Shanel Dickson was the only African-American and the only female on her solar roofing crew.
In July 2021, her Caucasian supervisor began calling her “nigga” and made other derogatory racial and sexual comments. She was also denied work duties and privileges that were afforded to men. Inside the warehouse was no better. On one occasion, in plain sight of a more senior supervisor, a white employee laughed at her dreadlocks and asked her to remove the hair-wrap so she could touch it.
When she blew the whistle on the racial and sexual harassment and discrimination, she was immediately put on a performance improvement plan (“PIP”)—one that faulted her for allegedly underperforming despite being denied equal opportunity. When she escalated the complaint to human resources, Dickson was removed from the crew and placed on trash duty—an assignment that required her pick up trash and clean the very sites at which her harasser worked.
Needing to care for her ailing mother, Dickson wanted to apply for internal vacancies in New York. However, the PIP prevented her from even applying. Fed up with this treatment, she was forced to quit.
View a related The Mercury News article about this Tesla lawsuit >>
View the filed case complaint for Shanel Dickson vs. Tesla Energy Operations, Inc. in PDF format >>
