Recently a report was released stating that Tesla relied on cheap foreign labor to build a hi-tech paint shop in Califonia. This has caused CEO Elon Musk to apologize publicly and launch an investigation.
The automaker reportedly used 140 workers from eastern Europe, primarily from Croatia and Slovenia to build a paint shop in northern California for the production of Model 3 sedan.
Workers hired by sub-contractor Eisenmann, a manufacturer based out of Germany, received hourly wages of $5, which is a fraction of the prevailing wages for local workers, according to a report by Bay Area News Group.
Musk, took to Twitter to respond to that by saying, "Only heard about this today. Sounds like the wrong thing happened on many levels. Will investigate and make it right."
Notably, Tesla took a preorder of $10 billion in just two days in April for its Model 3, which, according to the company claims, is an affordable electric car scheduled to be shipped in 2017.
The report, which drew such large response, highlighted the story of Gregor Lesnik, an electrician from Slovenia, who reportedly suffered multiple injuries while working. He fell three stories from a roof, causing him to land on the factory floor and resulting in a broken leg, torn knee ligaments, and a concussion.
Lesnik filed a lawsuit in Alameda county superior court, with ISM Vuzen, his Slovenian recruit, as the primary offender. Less than a week after Lesnik's accident, his employers allegedly lied to the doctors and transferred him out of the country. According to estimation of the lawyers, the workers are owed approximately $2.6 million for their wages.
Meanwhile, Eisenmann and Tesla have both sought to be excluded from the litigation and have won an initial effort. However, recently, a judge has allowed the complaint to proceed against both firms.
Tesla, in an effort to shake of the claim, issued a lengthy response to the article on Monday, saying: "We are taking action to address [Lesnik's] situation and to put in place additional oversight to ensure that our workplace rules are followed even by sub-subcontractors to prevent such a thing from happening again."
The statement, however, highlighted that Tesla is not liable in court and the contractor is obligated to comply with the laws, and the case "is not a legal issue, but a moral issue".
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