(Reuters) — Tesla Inc has been sued by a black former chief executive who says he was fired for pushing back against comments from his white supervisor that he claims were racist, the latest in a series of racial bias cases against the world’s most valuable car manufacturer.
John Goode, who oversaw a Tesla service center near Atlanta, filed a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court on Thursday, alleging that a regional manager blocked him from considering a promotion before getting him fired on false claims on March 3.
A Tesla representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. The electric car maker in other cases has said it does not tolerate discrimination and takes action when workers complain.
The trial comes as a trial in a race harassment trial by a Black former elevator operator at Tesla̵
7;s factory in Fremont, Calif., is scheduled to end Friday.The plaintiff in that case, Owen Diaz, was awarded $137 million by a jury in 2021 and opted for a new trial on damages after a judge reduced the payout to $15 million. The judge said Diaz had worked at the factory for just nine months and did not allege any physical injury or illness.
In the new lawsuit, Mr. Goode that the white regional manager during the course of 2022 made a series of offensive comments. The manager said black people “are only good at sports and entertainment” and “only scream and yell in church,” according to the complaint.
Mr. Goode claims that last October the manager blocked him from interviewing for a promotion that ultimately went to a white worker.
Mr. Goode says he then told the manager his racist comments were unprofessional and weeks later was suspended and then fired for being late in filing expense reports. Tesla’s corporate policy does not specify a deadline for the reports, Goode claims.
The lawsuit, which alleges violations of California and federal laws prohibiting racial discrimination and retaliation in the workplace, seeks damages for lost wages and benefits and emotional distress and punitive damages.
Together with Mr. The Diaz case pits the electric car maker against a proposed class action by black workers and a lawsuit by a California state agency alleging widespread racial discrimination at the Fremont plant.
Tesla has denied wrongdoing in those cases and has said the lawsuit by the California Civil Rights Department was politically motivated.
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