Tesla Settles Discrimination Lawsuit Where It Originally Faced Record $137 Million Judgment - Report

A lawyer for Owen Diaz, an African-American elevator operator at TSLA’s Fremont, Calif., giga-factory told CNBC that the two sides had settled their lawsuit for an undisclosed sum.

“The parties have reached an amicable resolution of their disputes,” attorney Lawrence Organ told the network. “The terms of the settlement are confidential and we will not have additional comment.”

Diaz claimed that he was called the N-word multiple times by supervisors during his 2015-16 tenure, and was also told to “go back to Africa.”

He originally won a $136.9 million jury award against Tesla after a 2021 trial – which his lawyers believe represented the largest racial-discrimination award in U.S. history.

However, a judge later reduced that to $15 million, and both sides then sought to see the case retried. A second trial ended with a new jury awarding Diaz $3.2 million last year.

It’s unclear what amount of damages the two sides ultimately agreed on to resolve the matter.

Tesla did not immediately comment on the settlement to CNBC.

However, the auto giant has previously denied allegations of tolerating anti-black discrimination that the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission has made in a separate, ongoing lawsuit.

TSLA called those charges “a false narrative that ignores Tesla’s track record of equal employment opportunity,” according to CNBC.

TSLA stock showed little reaction Friday to the Diaz case’s settlement, which became public after the market close.

Shares rose 0.3% to $164.07 shortly after 5 p.m. ET in after-hours trading.