Employee denounces sexual harassment atmosphere at Tesla

A Tesla employee working at the Fremont plant in California has filed a complaint against the group, accusing it of allowing an atmosphere conducive to sexual harassment against women and doing nothing despite its protests.

Between sexual comments and unwanted physical contact, Jessica Barraza, 38, believes she has been operating since arriving on the site at the end of 2018 in a misogynistic environment, explains her complaint filed Thursday and relayed to AFP by her lawyer on Friday. . In September, for example, one of her classmates slipped behind her before putting his leg between her thighs.

“Nearly every day for three years, my colleagues and I were considered beings, threatened and harmed, and being an upfront subject in our workplace,” she denounced in a press release. “I felt humiliated, humiliated and shocked.”

She assures us that the inappropriate words and gestures came from her colleagues as well as from her supervisors.

She complained on several occasions to superiors and a HR representative, but no action was taken, to the best of her knowledge.

On the other hand, she believes she was subjected to reprisals after various reports, such as giving up a new job or disciplinary action for stepping down after the episode with the man putting his leg between hers.

Currently on sick leave, with a diagnosis of PTSD, she is seeking compensatory damages in addition to punitive damages, as well as a commitment by Tesla to put in place training, monitoring, and sanction programs designed to prevent any sexual harassment.

The group led by Elon Musk did not immediately respond to a request from AFP.

This complaint was filed a few weeks after a California jury decided to order Tesla to pay a black former employee $137 million in damages, to turn a blind eye to the racism the man was experiencing at one of its factories.