A former Tesla Inc. employee has alleged that Elon Musk‘s electric-car company has been forcing employees to work under unsafe conditions at its Peabody, Massachusetts, shop floor.
As per a complaint filed in Boston federal court Thursday, Benjamen Simon, a former regional service manager at Tesla, was fired from his job after he complained about unsafe working conditions from dangerous-level heat temperatures on the shop floor several times in 2021. He urged the management to install air conditioning in the bay of the service shops to protect technicians from heat waves.
The complaint accessed by Bloomberg said Simon raised the request multiple times even after managers told him that Tesla’s accounts department denied spending “over $100,000 for just one location to get air conditioning.”
“The dangerous heat situation did not improve and Tesla disregarded Simon’s safety complaints,” Kathleen Davidson, Simon’s attorney, wrote in the complaint.
Simon also claimed his managers took away three of the eight dealerships he was handling following complaints about the working conditions. Shortly after, Simon said the company fired him for pushing for air conditioning at the sweat shop. He further alleged the company cited his use of a company vehicle as the reason behind his dismissal.
Maintaining he was wrongfully terminated from the company, Simon, in his complaint, is seeking lost wages, benefits, stock options and compensation for emotional distress.
Tesla attorney Anthony Califano, in response, filed a petition to move the suit to federal court in which the carmaker maintained that the “plaintiff is not entitled to any relief whatsoever.”
Denying any wrongdoing, the attorney added that the case was shifted to a federal court because Simon is seeking between $2.7 million and $10 million in damages. The lawyer noted that the monetary compensation sought by Simon is significantly above the threshold required to shift state court claims involving an out-of-state party.
Labor Concerns Over Working Conditions
Last year, several employees at Tesla’s California-located factory reported experiencing health issues after working long hours under intense pressure. “People pass out, hit the floor like a pancake and smash their face open. They just send us to work around him while he’s still lying on the floor,” said Jonathan Galescu, a production technician at Tesla, Palermo Law reported.
Factory workers also expressed fear of reporting their injuries to management, noting that the employer often assigned light duty work to sick employees and then were paid a lower wage.
Previously, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said the electric carmaker illegally coerced employees in Florida to not discuss pay and workplace issues with other people. The agency’s Tampa regional director wrote in a September 2022 filing that Musk’s company broke the labor law when it “told employees not to complain to higher level managers” about working conditions.
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