Tesla Ousts Judge It Says Can’t Be Fair in Discrimination Case
Tesla Ousts Judge It Says Can’t Be Fair in Discrimination Case
(Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc. got itself a different judge for a racial discrimination case brought by California’s civil rights regulator after complaining that the original judge is “prejudiced” against the company.
Alameda County Superior Court on Wednesday reassigned the case to Judge Evelio Grillo after Tesla’s attorneys said in a filing that Judge Brad Seligman wouldn’t give the automaker a “fair and impartial trial” -- without elaborating.
Seligman was a nationally prominent public interest lawyer who specialized in civil rights litigation before he was appointed as a judge in 2012 by then-California governor Jerry Brown. He represented women whose gender bias suit against Walmart Inc. was the biggest employment discrimination case of its time, but was derailed as a class action by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011.
Tesla used a procedure in California law that lets a party to a lawsuit replace a judge without showing proof she or he is biased. There was no immediate response from Seligman’s chambers to a request for comment.
DFEH sued Tesla in February following a three-year investigation that the agency said revealed evidence of “racial segregation” in its Fremont, California, factory.
Tesla fired back in April, saying the case should be halted because the agency exceeded its legal authority and is engaging in a turf war with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
But DFEH on Wednesday told the court that Tesla’s move to pause the case is just a delay tactic “to avoid addressing racism at its California locations.”
A hearing on whether to put the case on hold is set for May 17.
The case is Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Tesla Inc., 22CV006830, California Superior Court, Alameda County.
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