Black employee hits Tesla with third racial discrimination lawsuit this year

A Black employee has filed a racial discrimination suit against Tesla, saying a manager would greet employees by saying, “Welcome to the slave house,” the San Jose Mercury News reports.

According to Raina Pierce's complaint, “Tesla’s facilities contain the N-word throughout." She also claims that she was personally called the N-word and other sexist slurs and accuses her supervisors of treating her differently than other employees due to her race.

As Black Enterprise Magazine points out, Tesla has a reputation for racial discrimination lawsuits, which have become so frequent that the state of California has threatened to sue the tech giant. Pierce is the third Black employee to file such a suit this year.

"The lawsuits are ironic, considering Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased the social media giant Twitter because he claims he wants to promote free speech," Black Enterprise's Derek Major writes. "If Musk’s Tesla plants are an example of free speech, it may lead to more trouble for Musk."

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On Monday, Musk announced an agreement to acquire Twitter for $44 billion at $54.20 per share in cash.

Twitter had initially resisted Musk's efforts, but abruptly shifted course after the brash entrepreneur lined up billions of dollars in financing from large banks to supplement the contribution from his personal fortune.

On Thursday, Musk attacked Twitter legal counsel Vijaya Gadde, who has led efforts to battle bullying, drawing criticism from women's groups, Twitter's former CEO and others.

With additional reporting by AFP