Tesla Accused of ‘Toxic Culture’ At Factories: ‘Racial Slur, Lewd Touching, Unsafe Work Conditions’ 

Complaints against Tesla were detailed in a report by a US magazine. In another development, EV-maker set to lay off 10% of its global workforce.

Elon Musk’s Tesla has been accused by multiple employees of overlooking a toxic work culture at its factories, with complaints alleging rampant sexual harassment and racism, besides unsafe work conditions.

The complaints against the auto giant have been detailed in a report by The Nation, a US-based monthly magazine, which spoke to multiple former employees and reviewed legal complaints filed against Tesla.

All the employees described a noxious environment – of racial slur thrown around on the floor of factories and scrawled in bathrooms, and sexual comments and inappropriate touching directed at women staffers. 

While one woman staffer talked about co-workers who “brushed up against her with their groins”, another talked about male employees photographing a female worker’s butt and circulating the photos among other employees.

Most of the women staffers ended up quitting over this behaviour, or were fired when they refused to return to work, the report adds, also noting that complaints to human resources elicited no response.

The report says The Nation contacted Tesla with multiple requests for comment, but it didn’t respond.

Among the largest makers of electric vehicles, Tesla is seen as one of the flagbearers of a warming world’s efforts to adopt clean energy and mount a pushback against climate change. Elon Musk, its CEO, is not just one of the world’s richest men, but a key and widely followed pop-culture figure.

However, Tesla has of late been making news for the wrong reasons. The company announced this week that it is laying off more than 10% of its global workforce as it grapples with intensifying competition and falling sales. 

According to a Reuters report, two senior leaders have also announced their departures from the company: Battery development chief Drew Baglino and vice-president for public policy, Rohan Patel. 

Baglino is seen as a Tesla veteran and is one of four members, along with Musk, of the leadership team listed on the company's investor relations website, the report adds.

The layoffs come close on the heels of Tesla reportedly abandoning its plans to release a mass-market EV, which investors had been counting on to drive growth. 

‘Nothing I Hate More’

Elon Musk told his company through an internal memo that Tesla needs to enhance productivity and cut costs to gear up for future challenges and opportunities.

“As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” he reportedly wrote in the memo. 

“As part of this effort, we’ve done a thorough review of the organisation and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10 percent globally. There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done.”