Tesla loses challenge to California agency suing for race bias

(Reuters) — A California administrative agency has declined to review Tesla Inc.’s claim that the state’s civil rights watchdog suing the company for race bias at an assembly plant is rushing to sue businesses without conducting full investigations.

California's Office of Administrative Law in a letter denied Tesla's petition, filed in June, to determine whether the Department of Civil Rights had adopted "underground regulations" that flout requirements it must meet before suing employers. 

The letter obtained by Reuters is dated Aug. 8 but was received by the department last week.

The OAL, which reviews state agency regulations and can recommend changes, said its decision in no way reflects the merits of Tesla's complaint.

The department in a pending lawsuit filed in February says Tesla's flagship Fremont, California, plant was a racially segregated workplace where Black employees were harassed and discriminated against in terms of job assignments, discipline and pay. 

A representative of Tesla, which has denied wrongdoing in the race bias case, had no immediate comment.

A spokesperson for the DCR did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agency was called the Department of Fair Employment and Housing before changing its name last month.