(Reuters) — A California administrative agency has declined to review Tesla Inc.’s claim that the state civil rights watchdog suing the company for racial bias at an assembly plant is rushing to sue companies without conducting full investigations.
California’s Office of Administrative Law rejected in a letter Tesla’s petition, filed in June, to determine whether the Department of Civil Rights had adopted “underground rules” that ignore requirements it must meet before suing employers.
The letter obtained by Reuters is dated August 8 but was received by the department last week.
The OAL, which reviews state agency rules and can recommend changes, said its decision in no way reflects the merits of Tesla̵
7;s complaint.The department says in an ongoing lawsuit filed in February that Tesla’s flagship Fremont, Calif., facility was a racially segregated workplace where black employees were harassed and discriminated against in assignments, discipline and pay.
A representative for Tesla, which has denied wrongdoing in the racial bias case, had no immediate comment.
A spokesperson for DCR did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agency was called the Department of Fair Employment and Housing before it changed its name last month.
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