A day after Elon Musk was named Time Magazine’s person of the year, six women filed lawsuits against Tesla in Alameda Superior Court, alleging constant sexual harassment at its plant in Fremont and other California facilities—including requests for sexual favors, inappropriate touching, and threats.
In the lawsuits, the women described using various methods to protect themselves from harassment, including wearing baggy clothes, skipping breaks, and asking to be moved away from harassers. Five of the employees work or used to work at Tesla’s Fremont factory and one was employed at Tesla service centers throughout southern California.
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The women described a set of shared experiences, in particular, a lack of action from Tesla when they reported harassers, threats, and unwanted transfers into new departments. Some of the women allege that the harassment led to anxiety and depression that has made it difficult to advance their careers.
On Tuesday, a former SpaceX engineer published an essay stating that Elon Musk is “sadistic” and “misogyny is rampant” at the Musk-owned start-up. Earlier this month, two women sued Tesla for a fostering “hostile work environment” against women at the same factory in Fremont.
In the latest spate of lawsuits, Alize Brown, a Tesla factory worker who had a three-month-old baby when she started working at Tesla, alleges that her colleague called her a “cow” that was “milking” and referred to her butt as a “wagon.” She alleges that her supervisor treated her requests to speak to the harasser about his behavior as a joke.
Michaela Curran, another former Tesla employee, alleges that her direct supervisor told her to “shake [her] ass” for him, and another colleague requested that she give him a “handjob” in the parking lot.
Alisa Blickman, another factory worker, alleges her supervisor would rub his hand on her lower back and whisper sexual comments to her and threaten her when she responded negatively.
At Tesla service centers in Los Angeles, Eden Mederos alleges that she faced constant harassment from other technicians, who made comments like “a pretty girl shouldn’t be working in a service center,” and that she should flirt with customers to get a rich husband. They also referred to her butt as a “cake” and “dump truck.” When she allegedly reported this behavior to Tesla’s human resources, her manager allegedly prevented her advancement at Tesla and human resources did not meaningfully addressing her complaints.
Another worker, Jessica Brooks, alleges that she faced such relentless harassment that she stacked boxes around her workstation to prevent colleagues from looking at her. When she reported the unwanted behavior, Brooks, not her harasser, was moved to a different part of the facility. Brooks is on stress-related leave, according to the Washington Post.
Tesla did not immediately comment on the lawsuits and no longer has a PR team.
The lawsuits are the latest in a series of legal actions taken against Tesla for the treatment of its factory workers that allege racism, sexual harassment, and anti-union activity. In October, a San Francisco court ruled that Tesla pay an ex-elevator operator $137 million for racist abuse, discrimination, and harassment. Tesla has also been found violating the National Labor Relations Act by illegally interrogating employees about union activity. In April, the board ordered Musk to delete an anti-union tweet.
