By Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) – Tesla Inc has suffered one other setback in its bid to problem the powers of California’s Civil Rights Division, which is suing the electrical carmaker over alleged race discrimination at its flagship meeting plant.
A decide in Oakland, California, in a tentative ruling late Tuesday dismissed Tesla’s counter-suit claiming the company didn’t notify the corporate of the bias allegations or give it an opportunity to settle earlier than suing it final February.
California Superior Court docket Decide Evelio Grillo gave Tesla till Feb. 3 to file an amended criticism fleshing out its declare that the company has adopted “underground laws” to flout the necessities it should meet earlier than submitting lawsuits.
A listening to is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
A Tesla consultant and the company didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
The company argues that Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant is a racially segregated office the place Black staff have been harassed and discriminated in opposition to over job assignments, self-discipline and pay.
Tesla has denied wrongdoing and stated the lawsuit is politically motivated.
Grillo in August denied Tesla’s movement to dismiss the case, saying its assault on the company’s practices was not a protection in opposition to the discrimination claims. Tesla filed the counter-suit in September.
Additionally in August, a distinct state administrative company declined to evaluation a Tesla criticism arguing that the Civil Rights Division was suing companies with out conducting thorough investigations.
A number of lawsuits are pending in California courts that accuse Tesla of tolerating discrimination and sexual harassment at its factories.
A state decide in April reduce a jury award to a Black employee who alleged racial harassment from $137 million to $15 million. The employee rejected the decreased award and opted for a brand new trial, which is scheduled for March.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Modifying by Alexia Garamfalvi and Kevin Liffey)
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