Elon Musk walks through the paddock before final practice for the F1 Grand Prix of Miami on May 6, 2023 at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami, Florida.
Clive Mason | Formula 1 | Getty Images
In a letter Monday, a group of mostly Democratic senators pressured Tesla CEO Elon Musk to stop using mandatory arbitration clauses in employee and customer contracts.
Like most large companies, Tesla requires workers to sign arbitration agreements whenever it is lawful to do so at the time of employment. In other words, speaking freely in court means that what they say becomes part of the public record, and workers must first obtain immunity from the arbitration agreement by a judge.
The senator wrote that such provisions keep workers’ complaints of racism and other poor working conditions hidden from public view. The group includes Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Bernie Sanders. , which included I-Vt. And Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
The letter details the discrimination lawsuit against Tesla.Black workers say they regularly face racism in the workplace, and women who work at Tesla report little to no support from management and blatant objectification and harassment by male colleagues. The EEOC, the federal agency responsible for enforcing civil rights laws against discrimination in the workplace, previously Cause investigation To Tesla, the company made the disclosure last June.
The senator wrote that workers at Tesla’s Fremont, Calif. factory appear to have filed at least five times more discrimination lawsuits last year than workers at comparable factories operated by other companies.
“However, only a few of these cases have been able to survive in court, and most have been removed from court following Tesla’s motion to force arbitration,” the lawmaker wrote. The details alleged in these lawsuits raise serious concerns not only about Tesla management’s collusion and participation in discriminatory terms, but also the countless other complaints that remain confidential.”
Mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer contracts similarly obscure important details about Tesla’s vehicle safety and business practices from the public, lawmakers wrote.
“The public deserves a complete record of safety complaints about Tesla vehicles,” they said, noting that a clause in a customer contract could theoretically allow customers to opt out of mandatory arbitration. , because they rarely do so, the difference is basically indisputable.
Of particular concern to senators were consumer complaints about psychedelic braking in Tesla vehicles.
“Beyond flawed design choices, Tesla cars appear to be plagued with a myriad of hardware and software issues. The steering wheel of two Tesla vehicles is the retaining bolt that NHTSA recently launched an investigation into. It fell off while driving because it didn’t burn,” they wrote. “But the actual reality is that Tesla drivers are subject to confidential arbitration agreements, so we and the public, including potential buyers, have no idea what complaints have already been made. We have no way of knowing what other potential safety issues with Tesla vehicles may exist.”
In addition to urging Tesla to commit to ending arbitration clauses in employee and consumer contracts and to stop filing claims to compel arbitration in court, lawmakers have asked Tesla to provide more information about its arbitration practices. I asked.
For example, the senator asked how many complaints of racial harassment, discrimination and retaliation Tesla has received from employees since 2012 and how many have been settled or arbitrated. They asked for the same details about sexual harassment complaints from Tesla workers.
They also asked for more information about when Tesla added the ability for consumers to opt out of mandatory arbitration, and how many historically have actually been able to opt out.
The senator also requested detailed information about the types of vehicle-related complaints received from customers, the hardware and software involved in those complaints, the number of cases resolved before arbitration, and the number of cases arbitrated in favor of consumers. I asked.
Mandatory arbitration is a common practice among new and used car dealers, according to Paul Brand, executive director of consumer advocacy group Public Justice. But because Tesla manufactures and sells cars directly to consumers, the mandatory arbitration clause covers more than the norm for auto sales.
“It makes a lot of sense to me that the senator would take notice of this,” Brand said. ”
A longtime consumer advocate, he views arbitration as a secret system, making it difficult for consumers to know what happened to people in previous related cases. , said arbitration would make it harder for consumers to file class action lawsuits or even make informed choices about how they want to conduct business.
