Record Breaking Jury Verdict For The Largest Race Discrimination Case in US History ($137,000,000)

Owen Diaz brought a race harassment case against Tesla, Inc. under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 because he was forced to endure widespread use of the N-word and other racist conduct.  A Jury has found that from 2015 to 2016, Mr. Diaz was subjected to severe and pervasive racial harassment.  He was called the N-word over sixty times by supervisors and he was told to “go back to Africa.” 

One supervisor left a picaninny drawing on some recycled cardboard near the elevators where Mr. Diaz would find it. Mr. Diaz saw racist graffiti in multiple bathrooms throughout Tesla’s Fremont, CA factory. Mr. Diaz also witnessed his son being called the N-word by his son’s supervisor.

Mr. Diaz first complained about the N-word to his lead just under 2 months after starting at Tesla. Several employees corroborated the conduct.  No remedial action was taken to ensure that other employees did not engage in similar conduct.  In fact, one of his supervisors claimed that it was not corroborated in an email even though at trial he admitted it was. In addition to Mr. Diaz, three other employees/supervisors heard the N-word on a daily basis as they walked around the factory. They did not take remedial action.

This verdict of $136.9 million is believed to be the largest jury verdict for a single plaintiff in a race harassment case in American history.  CCRLG’s team included Partners Larry Organ and Navruz Avloni, Associate Cimone Nunley, Paralegal Sabrina Grislis, and Trial Specialist Susan Organ.

Our Workplace Sexual Harassment And Discrimination Lawyers Can Help

From offices in San Francisco, Oakland, and Marin County, our attorneys protect the civil rights of workers in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout California.

See below for more of our critical civil rights victories:

  • $137,000,000

    Diaz v. Tesla (race harassment)

  • $30,550,000

    Gober v. Ralphs Grocery Co. (sex harassment)

  • $7.1 million

    Weeks v. Baker & McKenzie, et al. (sex harassment)

  • $6.85 million

    Marscitz v. UltraStar Cinemas (sex harassment)

  • $5.5 million

    Yarborough v. PeopleSoft, Inc. (whistleblower)

  • $2.1 million judgment plus fee award

    Greene v. Dillingham (race harassment)

  • $1,021,857

    Berry v. Tesla (race harassment)

  • $345,000 plus fee award

    Klaas v. ValleyCare Health Systems (whistleblower)

Settlements

  • $325,000 failure to accommodate settlement (2021)

  • $320,000 whistleblower settlement (2021)

  • $275,000 sexual harassment settlement (2021)

  • $250,000 disability discrimination settlement (2021)

  • $2.8 million sexual harassment settlement (2020)

  • $1 million race harassment settlement for two plaintiffs (2020)

  • $675,000 equal pay act settlement (2020)

  • $650,000 race harassment settlement (2020)

  • $250,000 race harassment settlement (2020)

  • $242,000 sex harassment settlement for two plaintiffs (2020)

  • $450,000 sexual abuse settlement (2019)

  • $225,000 disability discrimination settlement (2019)

  • $175,000 sexual harassment settlement (2019)

  • $975,000 sexual harassment settlement for two plaintiffs (2018)

  • $200,000 race discrimination settlement (2018)

  • $225,000 sex harassment settlement for two victims (2018)

  • $240,000 disability discrimination settlement (2018)

  • $265,000 FMLA/CFRA interference settlement (2018)

  • $325,000 race discrimination settlement (2018)

  • $1.6 million settlement for sex harassment victim (2018)

  • $225,000 race harassment settlement (2017)

  • $205,000 sex harassment settlement (2017)

  • $250,000 sex harassment settlement (2017)

  • $375,000 sex harassment settlement (2017)

  • $650,000 whistleblower settlement (2017)

  • $1.9 million settlement for 2 sex harassment victims (2017)

  • $450,000 disability discrimination settlement (2015)

  • $485,000 elderly abuse settlement (2015)

  • $1.3 million sex harassment settlement (2015)

  • $1.25 million race harassment settlement (2014)

  • $2.1 million settlement in class action wage and hour dispute (2011)

  • $3.3 million settlement for 3 sex harassment victims (2011)

  • $3.9 million settlement in age case for 3 workers (2006)

  • $2.5 million sex harassment single plaintiff settlement (2005)

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