Tesla’s defense argued the N-word can be acceptable in some workplace contexts during California discrimination trial

The company’s attorney made the argument as California seeks to prove Black employees endured years of slurs, racist graffiti and unequal treatment.

A California discrimination trial against Tesla has taken another explosive turn after the company’s legal team argued in court that the N-word can be acceptable in certain circumstances, a defense that’s drawing renewed attention to allegations of systemic racism at the automaker’s Fremont factory.

During opening statements, Tesla attorney Tyree Jones repeated the racial slur while arguing that some Black people use it as a greeting and that California’s case was attacking “the way many Black people greet each other,” according to reporting from The Guardian and Futurism. Jones also argued that not every use of the word constitutes racial harassment. Tesla has denied wrongdoing and says it disciplines employees who engage in misconduct. 

The remarks came as the California Civil Rights Department seeks to prove that Tesla allowed a hostile work environment where Black employees routinely faced racial slurs, racist graffiti, unequal pay, fewer promotions and retaliation after reporting discrimination. The state is seeking damages and workplace reforms if it prevails. 

As theGrio previously reported, workers described seeing the N-word written across factory walls, lockers and bathrooms alongside swastikas, Confederate flags and other racist symbols. Several former employees testified they heard racial slurs regularly and said complaints to supervisors or human resources often went nowhere. 

The trial is one of the highest-profile discrimination cases Tesla has faced, but it isn’t the company’s first legal battle over allegations of racism. In previous lawsuits, former Black employees won judgments after describing repeated racial harassment at the Fremont facility, including one case in which Tesla argued that some uses of the N-word were “friendly” rather than discriminatory. 

The bench trial is expected to continue through October, with a judge ultimately deciding whether Tesla violated California’s workplace discrimination laws.