Tesla faces a new lawsuit alleging severe harassment of Black employees at its Fremont, California factory, as filed by a federal civil rights agency this week.
On Thursday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Tesla in federal court, claiming that, since 2015, the company’s Black workers have been subject to racist slurs and graffiti, including images of swastikas and nooses, according to a report from Reuters.
The suit is just the latest in allegations of racial discrimination at the automaker’s Fremont, California factory, and it comes just over a week after another lawsuit claiming toxic work environments at Tesla’s factories was dismissed.
According to this week’s lawsuit, Tesla hasn’t investigated the claims of racist conduct since the EEOC first raised them, and it also claims that the automaker has fired some employees who reported cases of harassment. Tesla has said in the past that it doesn’t tolerate any racial discrimination, adding that it takes complaints from its workers very seriously.
The lawsuit comes after it was found that the EEOC was investigating Tesla last year, with the agency saying that it discovered “reasonable cause” to believe the automaker went against federal discrimination laws. The EEOC then tried to enter into a settlement with Tesla, though discussions to settle reportedly failed. Investigations began when EEOC chair Charlotte Burrows filed an internal complaint with the commission, considered a charge against Tesla.
-->“Every employee deserves to have their civil rights respected, and no worker should endure the kind of shameful racial bigotry our investigation revealed,” Burrows said.
Reuters notes that the EEOC typically settles lawsuits directly with employers, adding that it’s somewhat uncommon for the agency’s cases to make it to trial.
The suit also represents the first set of federal charges brought against Tesla for allegations of racial discrimination, with similar lawsuits previously arising from the state of California and past employees. Stephen Diamond, a Santa Clara University law professor who has previously advised Tesla investors on social responsibility, notes that the escalation to the federal level could make it harder for the automaker to defend itself against allegations of discrimination.
“If the federal government gets involved, it certainly adds credibility to the claims,” Diamond said. “Major institutional investors like pension funds will be very concerned about this type of behavior.”
The lawsuit is seeking to make Tesla pay compensation and punitive damages to an unspecified number of its Black workers at the Fremont location, and it would also force the automaker to improve policies related to discrimination and retaliation.
-->Tesla also faces a racial discrimination case from the California Civil Rights Department (DCR), which is considered a counterpart of the EEOC’s on the state level. That particular suit alleges that Tesla discriminated against Black workers in decisions about wages, promotions and general work assignments. Tesla requested that the DCR dismiss the case last year, saying it was politically motivated, though a judge denied the request.
In addition, a former Black contract elevator operator at the Fremont factory, Owen Diaz, is now seeking his third trial with Tesla from a 2017 lawsuit alleging racial discrimination. In the suit, Diaz said he was told to “go back to Africa” and was called the N-word without any action taken by the automaker despite his repeated complaints. A jury awarded Diaz $3.2 million in April after he rejected a separate payout in 2021 that the judge had reduced from $137 million to $15 million.
Tesla is also facing a class-action lawsuit from around 240 employees in California, claiming that the company mistreated Black workers at the Fremont factory.
Former Tesla employee looks to add almost 240 plaintiffs in racism lawsuit
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.
-->
News
Tesla Giga Berlin is still ramping production to meet Model Y demand: plant manager
Tesla Gigafactory Berlin has expanded to two full shifts, as per the facility’s plant manager, and a lot of it is due to Model Y demand.
Tesla Gigafactory Berlin has expanded to two full shifts, as per the facility’s plant manager, and a lot of it is due to Model Y demand. While registrations in some countries such as Sweden have fallen sharply this year, the company’s sales in other key territories have been rising.
Giga Berlin shifts to two shifts
Giga Berlin factory manager André Thierig told the DPA that the facility has been running two shifts since September to manage a surge in global orders. And due to the tariff dispute with the United States, vehicles that are produced at Giga Berlin are now being exported to Canada.
“We deliver to well over 30 markets and definitely see a positive trend there,” Thierig said.
Despite Giga Berlin now having two shifts, the facility’s production still needs to ramp up more. This is partly due to the addition of the Tesla Model Y Performance and Standard, which are also being produced in the Grunheide-based factory. Interestingly enough, Giga Berlin still only produces the Model Y, unlike other factories like Gigafactory Texas, the Fremont Factory, and Gigafactory Shanghai, which produce more than one type of vehicle.
Norway’s momentum
Norway, facing an imminent tax increase on cars, has seen a historic spike in Tesla purchases as buyers rush to secure deliveries before the change takes effect, as noted in a CarUp report. As per recent reports, Tesla has broken Norway’s all-time annual sales record this month, beating Volkswagen’s record that has stood since 2016.
-->What is rather remarkable is the fact that Tesla was able to achieve so much in Norway with one hand practically tied behind its back. This is because the company’s biggest sales draw, FSD, remains unavailable in the country. Fortunately, Tesla is currently hard at work attempting to get FSD approved for Europe, a notable milestone that should spur even more vehicle sales in the region.
Tesla is launching a crazy Full Self-Driving free trial, which will enable owners who have not purchased the suite outright to try it for 30 days.
There are a handful of stipulations that will be needed in order for you to qualify for the free trial, which was announced on Thursday night.
Tesla said the trial is for v14, the company’s latest version of the Full Self-Driving suite, and will be available to new and existing Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck owners, who will have the opportunity to try the latest features, including Speed Profiles, Arrival Options, and other new upgrades.
🚨 Tesla is launching a free 30-day trial of Full Self-Driving in North America for owners.
It includes every model, but you need v14.2 or later, and you cannot have already purchased the suite outright. https://t.co/8CNmxxOkVl
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 27, 2025
You must own one of the five Tesla models, have Full Self-Driving v14.2 or later, and have an eligible vehicle in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, or Canada.
The company said it is a non-transferable trial, which is not redeemable for cash. Tesla is reaching out to owners via email to give them the opportunity to enable the Full Self-Driving trial.
Those who are subscribed to the monthly Full Self-Driving program are eligible, so they will essentially get a free month of the suite.
Once it is installed, the trial will begin, and the 30-day countdown will begin.
Tesla is making a major push to increase its Full Self-Driving take rate, as it revealed that about 12 percent of owners are users of the program during its recent earnings call.
Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said during the call:
“We feel that as people experience the supervised FSD at scale, demand for our vehicles, like Elon said, would increase significantly. On the FSD adoption front, we’ve continued to see decent progress. However, note that the total paid FSD customer base is still small, around 12% of our current fleet.”
Earlier today, we reported on Tesla also launching a small-scale advertising campaign on X for the Full Self-Driving suite, hoping to increase adoption.
Tesla Full Self-Driving warrants huge switch-up on essential company strategy
It appears most people are pretty content with the subscription program. It costs just $99 a month, in comparison to the $8,000 fee it is for the outright purchase.
Tesla Full Self-Driving has warranted a huge switch-up on an essential company strategy as the automaker is hoping to increase the take rate of the ADAS suite.
Unlike other automotive companies, Tesla has long been an outlier, as it has famously ditched a traditional advertising strategy in favor of organic buzz, natural word-of-mouth through its production innovation, and utilizing CEO Elon Musk’s huge social media presence to push its products.
Tesla has taken the money that it would normally spend on advertising and utilized it for R&D purposes. For a long time, it yielded great results, and ironically, Tesla saw benefits from other EV makers running ads.
Tesla counters jab at lack of advertising with perfect response
However, in recent years, Tesla has decided to adjust this strategy, showing a need to expand beyond its core enthusiast base, which is large, but does not span over millions and millions as it would need to fend off global EV competitors, which have become more well-rounded and a better threat to the company.
In 2024 and 2025, Tesla started utilizing ads to spread knowledge about its products. This is continuing, as Full Self-Driving ads are now being spotted on social media platforms, most notably, X, which is owned by Musk:
NEWS: Tesla is running paid advertisements on X about FSD (Supervised). Here’s an ad they started running yesterday: pic.twitter.com/IHVywLMyTd
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 25, 2025
Interestingly, Tesla’s strategy on FSD advertising is present in Musk’s new compensation package, as the eleventh tranche describes a goal of achieving 10 million active paid FSD subscriptions.
Full Self-Driving is truly Tesla’s primary focus moving forward, although it could be argued that it also has a special type of dedication toward its Optimus robot project. However, FSD will ultimately become the basis for the Robotaxi, which will enable autonomous ride-sharing across the globe as it is permitted in more locations.
Tesla has been adjusting its advertising strategy over the past couple of years, and it seems it is focused on more ways to spread awareness about its products. It will be interesting to see if the company will expand its spending even further, as it has yet to put on a commercial during live television.
We wouldn’t put it out of the question, at least not yet.
Tesla Giga Berlin is still ramping production to meet Model Y demand: plant manager
Tesla launches crazy Full Self-Driving free trial: here’s how you can get it
