Photo: Bloomberg
Tesla countersues the California Civil Rights Department as they adopted “underground regulations” in relation to the company. The authority violated state law by not seeking public comment and not seeking solutions with the manufacturer before filing a lawsuit.
Tesla on Thursday filed countersuits in Alameda County state court, saying the Department of Civil Rights (DCR), formerly known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) of California adopted “underground regulations” in its investigations into the Tesla factory in the state. The company claims that the agency did not first notify Tesla of the claims of racial discrimination at its factory and did not give the company the opportunity to settle the dispute out of court. Thus, DCR violated state law by failing to seek public opinion prior to enacting procedures for investigating and filing a claim against the employer. In June, Tesla also filed a petition with California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for the same reasons, seeking to water down DCR's powers, insisting that it must take additional steps before suing employers.
The given countersuits will attempt to prohibit DCR from following its illegal procedures in investigating any employer. The company also wants to force the agency to pass the new rules through a formal rule-making process. In addition, the countersuits can provide Tesla lawyers with insight into the agency's practices as well as its investigations into the company, which could then help Tesla's efforts to dismiss the original case.
In early 2022, DCR sued Tesla for systematic racial discrimination and harassment. This followed a three-year investigation in which the body never raised concerns about the manufacturer's current practices. The DCR made no attempt to discuss the results of their investigation, denying to give Tesla any information on the matter. The details of the lawsuit became known only after it was directly filed with the court.
© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
