Tesla has removed language about minority workers in its latest Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, following its CEO Elon Musk’s recent comments criticizing diversity initiatives, as reported by Bloomberg on January 29. The 10-K comprehensive report released on Monday ditched a line it used the previous year that read: “With a majority-minority workforce, empowering our employee resource groups to take charge in driving initiatives that attract, develop and retain our passionate workforce is vital to our continued success.” Despite this change, the document still underscores Tesla’s human-resources policies dedicated to fairness, respect, and the company’s zero-tolerance stance against discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or other characteristics.

Musk has repeatedly denounced diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in recent weeks on social media, calling them “literally the definition of racism.” Before Musk’s critic of DEI efforts, Tesla has faced a slew of complaints and lawsuits over racial discrimination and other forms of harassment at its plant in Fremont, California. Last September, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accused Tesla of tolerating widespread and ongoing racial harassment of its Black employees since 2015, with workers facing retaliation for raising objections to racial hostility. In Tesla’s first diversity report published in December 2020, the firm boasted a “majority minority” US workforce, while its employees in leadership roles at a director level or higher were 83% men and 59% White.

S****ources:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-29/tesla-drops-minority-worker-language-after-musk-s-dei-rants?srnd=equality

https://nypost.com/2024/01/29/business/tesla-erases-language-about-minority-workers-after-elon-musks-diversity-rant/

https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-sues-tesla-racial-harassment-and-retaliation

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/04/tesla-publishes-its-first-diversity-report-here-are-the-key-numbers.html