by Brad Anderson
- California judge ruled Tesla workers can’t sue as a class for bias.
- Many plaintiffs reportedly can’t afford to miss work to testify.
- Lawyers warn Tesla may now face hundreds of individual lawsuits.
Tesla has long been familiar with the courtroom, especially when it comes to class-action lawsuits in the United States. Over the years, the company has paid out millions to settle various cases, but this week brought a rare turn of fortune for the EV maker.
Read: California Judge Approves Class Action Against Tesla Over Racial Harassment
A California state judge has ruled that a group of African American factory workers cannot sue Tesla as a class over alleged racial discrimination, handing the company a temporary reprieve in a high-profile case that’s been unfolding for years.
What Changed in Court?
The lawsuit, originally filed by former assembly-line worker Marcus Vaughn, had claimed that Black employees at Tesla’s plant in Fremont, California, were subjected to racial discrimination that included slurs directed at them and nooses hung at their workstations.
Initially certified as a class action in 2024, the case was scheduled to go to trial in April 2026. However, earlier this week, California Superior Court Judge Peter Borkon said the 2017 lawsuit can no longer proceed as a class action, noting that many of the 200 workers randomly selected to testify at trial have been unwilling to do so.
As such, Borkon says he can no longer trust that the experiences of a smaller selection of workers can be applied to the entire class.
According to one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, Lawrence Organ, many of those named in the class-action are low-income workers who cannot afford to miss work and testify in the case.
More Lawsuits Could Come
But Tesla is still in hot water. While the class action hasn’t been certified, the plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel, Bryan J. Schwartz, says lawyers will pursue hundreds of individual lawsuits. So far, more than 500 have been filed, and by the time it’s all said and done, more than 900 separate lawsuits alleging racial discrimination could be filed against Tesla.
“Tesla has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire with this decertification, because they are now facing hundreds of victims of race harassment seeking damages in their own suits,” Schwartz told KQED.
