Conflict, Tension, and Racism alleged on Tesla’s Model Y Production Line

In a federal suit, a company HR manager says she was called an “angry black woman” and fired for refusing to terminate another employee on an approved leave. She says Tesla employees don’t back up her

A former Tesla HR manager says in a new lawsuit that during a turbulent quarter on the company’s Model Y production line last year, she was abused for not firing an employee out on family medical leave, called “an angry black woman,” and herself fired.

The allegations are made in a federal lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California by Karen Draper, the former Tesla HR manager. The suit alleges wrongful termination.

According to the complaint, the conflict began last year when a Tesla employee went out on company-approved Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) time off. The employee’s manager, Kristopher Lindsey, then sought to have the employee on leave fired. 

Draper said she objected; Lindsey initially “yelled at, belittled and disrespected” other Tesla HR representatives over the issue, and then Draper directly. “Lindsey was loud, rude, rabid, and intransigent with Draper, during their meeting about his position that (the employee) could and should be fired while out on FMLA leave,” she says in her complaint. 

The story was first reported by Law.com.

“Despite witness statements to the contrary, Draper’s managers characterized her interactions with Lindsey as the product of being an ‘Angry Black Woman,’ a racial trope that stereotypes Black women as inherently short-tempered, ill-mannered, and over-bearing. Draper’s managers accused her of being ‘aggressive’ and ‘out-of-control’ with Lindsey—a Caucasian male—while merely describing him as ‘passionate’ and ‘animated,’ a race-based disparity that Draper was quick to confront them about.”

Draper was stationed at Tesla’s Fremont, Calif.-based facility with about 50 other corporate HR managers, she said.

Other Tesla managers also turned on her, Draper alleges, because “they believed that they could be held responsible for not fostering an environment that coddled and appeased Model Y production managers.” 

Draper said she was ultimately fired in February, being told by her managers that it was over “unspecified performance issues.” 

The time period outlined in Draper’s complaint was one of the more tumultuous for Tesla on its Model Y line - one of the highest-volume Electric Vehicles in the U.S. During that period, the company opted to drastically cut pricing on Model Ys in China and eventually cut prices on the model this year in the U.S. Additionally, the Model Y experienced a recall over a faulty rear taillight. 

Because of its market position as a top-selling model, the Model Y has been considered a key to the company’s success. 

“The Model Y production managers wielded a lot of institutional power within the Company and frequently held face-to-face meetings with Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk,” Draper’s lawsuit alleges. “Musk frequently traveled to Tesla’s Fremont production facility to walk the Model Y manufacturing line and interact directly with production floor employees and managers like Lindsey.”

Tesla’s press office did not respond to a request for comment.