Tesla

Worker at Tesla's Fremont Factory Alleges ‘Rampant' Sexual Harassment: Report

Production worker was subject to crude comments about her body, propositioned by a supervisor and touched inappropriately by co-workers, according to the lawsuit

A masked man walks in the Tesla plant parking lot Monday, May 11, 2020, in Fremont, Calif.
AP Photo/Ben Margot

A worker at Tesla's Fremont factory is suing the electric carmaker on allegations of "rampant" sexual harassment in the workplace, according to a report from the Washington Post.

Jessica Barraza filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court alleging she was subject to crude comments about her body, propositioned by a supervisor via text message and touched inappropriately by co-workers, according to the Post.

Barraza, a production worker on the Tesla Model 3, reported the incidents to Tesla's human resources department in September and October and said the company did not address the harassment, the Post reported.

The newspaper interviewed current and former Tesla workers who corroborated Barraza's allegations. They told the Post they witnessed the very incidents recounted in the lawsuit or experienced similar sexual harassment themselves at Tesla's Fremont plant.

Barraza alleges in the suit that Tesla breeds a culture of sexual harassment at the Fremont factory, adding that it goes all the way to the top, with CEO Elon Musk, according to the Post.

Barraza is being represented by David A. Lowe of Rudy Exelrod Zieff & Lowe of San Francisco.

Tesla declined to respond to multiple requests for comment from the Post.

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