6 Women Are Suing Tesla Over Sexual Harassment Allegations
The women say their experiences range from catcalling to intimate touching.
By Chloe Arrojado •
Less than a month after a Tesla factory employee filed a lawsuit for alleged "rampant sexual harassment," six other women have come forward with lawsuits.
The women — Michaela Curran, Alize Brown, Jessica Brooks, Alisa Blickman, Samira Sheppard and Eden Mederos — describe experiences ranging from catcalling to intimate touching. Five of them worked at Tesla's Fremont, Calif. factory, while one worked in Tesla's service centers throughout Southern California.
"It was horrible," Alize Brown told the Washington Post. "I would actually come home and cry because, first of all I just had a baby, then I have to be tortured for 12 hours. … It was really hard for me. It's still kind of hard for me even after being let go from Tesla."
In the interview, Brown calls her experience a "living nightmare." She started getting harassed after giving birth, when a co-worker would call her a "cow" or say that her backside was a "wagon." But when she told a supervisor about these comments, the supervisor merely brushed off the situation.
Related: Ex-Tesla Employees Reveal the Worst Parts of Working There
One of the other women, Jessica Brooks, told the Post she started stacking boxes around her workstation to stop the inappropriate behavior she'd get from men. She even bought flannel shirts to tie around her waist in an effort to prevent men from directing comments at her backside.
"I was so tired of the unwanted attention and the males gawking at me, I proceeded to create barriers around me just so I could get some relief," Brooks said. "That was something I felt necessary just so I can do my job."
Problems with Tesla's workplace environment have been documented to extend beyond sexual harassment, as people have reported racist behavior as well. Earlier this year, a jury awarded ex-Tesla worker Owen Diaz $137 million in damages after he claimed that Tesla's Fremont plant was a racially hostile work environment.
