Tesla’s Fremont Factory ‘Resembles A Frat House’ Harassment Lawsuit Claims

A woman has accused Tesla of contributing to an environment where sexual harassment was “rampant” at their factory in Fremont, California, in a new lawsuit.

In an interview with The Washington Post, worker Jessica Barraza accused the company of allowing the situation to unfold.

In the lawsuit, it states that the Tesla factory “resembles a . . . frat house,” contradicting the progressive nature of the San Francisco area. Barraza is also reportedly on doctor-ordered medical leave for post-traumatic stress and anxiety.

Tesla hired Barraza as a production associate in 2018. In the lawsuit, she claims male colleagues subjected her to harassment, which included catcalling and inappropriate physical touching, and that superiors knew about and took part in the toxic environment. A human resources complaint did nothing to protect her.

Specifics listed in the complaint are that male workers remarked on Barraza’s “coke bottle” figure, “fat a**,” or “onion booty.” The complaint also states that male workers would “brush up against Ms. Barraza’s back-side (including with their groins) or unnecessarily touch her under the pretext of working together in close quarters.”

Barraza’s complaint was filed in California Superior Court, but Tesla CEO and SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk is not named in the suit. Though Musk is not named, Barraza cited a tweet he wrote in The Washington Post interview that contributed to the toxic culture.

“Am thinking of starting new university: Texas Institute of Technology & Science,” Musk wrote. The acronym would be TITS (a reference to women’s breasts). “It will have epic merch, universally admired,” Musk continued.

“That doesn’t set a good example for the factory — it almost gives it like an … ‘he’s tweeting about it, it has to be okay,’” Barraza said in The Washington Post in the interview. “It’s not fair to myself, to my family, to other women who are working there.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company will have a prototype of a humanoid robot by next year Photo: POOL / Patrick Pleul

This is not the first time the Fremont factory has been accused of harassment. In October, Tesla was ordered by a judge to pay $137 million to a former contractor who was subjected to racial harassment.

In 2017, former Tesla engineer AJ Vandermeyden sued Tesla that alleged women were denied promotions and paid less than their male colleges, then faced retaliation after reaching out to human resources. Tesla fired Vandermeyden months after her claims went public.

“Tesla is responsible for the systemic sexual harassment occurring in its factory,” Barraza’s attorney, David A. Lowe, told The Verge. “We are bringing this case to put a stop to the harassment against Ms. Barraza and her colleagues.”