Tesla has been sentenced to 137 million US dollars in compensation for racial discrimination, which is one of the best in similar cases. But William Orrick, the district judge for the district of San Francisco, said Wednesday that Tesla was held responsible for the racial discrimination but the penalty was too severe to reduce the damages to $15 million.
Last October, a U.S. jury found Tesla responsible for encounters such as former black employee Owen Diaz, who worked as an elevator operator at Tesla’s Fremont, Calif., factory. The jury found that Diaz had been in a hostile working environment for racial reasons.
on Wednesday, in his 43-page verdict, o’rick said the evidence “adequately supported” the jury’s ruling that tesla was legally responsible. but he said the $6.9 million in compensatory damages awarded to Diaz by the jury was “excessive” and should be reduced to $1.5 million, while the $130 million in punitive damages was “unconstitutional” and should be reduced to $13.5 million. orik gave Diaz 30 days to receive $15 million in damages or to seek a new trial for damages.