Two former Tesla employees recently filed a class-action lawsuit against the company for the way it has handled its staff downsizing, laying off over 500 workers at the company’s Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada in early June.
John Lynch and Daxton Hartsfield allege that the EV manufacturer did not abide by the prescribed 60-day notification period, and thus violated federal law. The lawsuit is seeking reparations for all Tesla employees laid off without advance notice, and pay and benefits for the 60-day notification period.
Commenting on the alleged manner of downsizing, Shannon Liss-Riordan, an attorney representing the workers, said: “It’s pretty shocking that Tesla would just blatantly violate federal labor law by laying off so many workers without providing the required notice.”
Liss-Riordan also added that Tesla employees were only offered one week of severance. She disclosed that she is preparing an emergency motion with a court to prevent Tesla from extracting releases from the affected employees for such a small severance.
The company has not yet commented on all the allegations surrounding the ethics of its downsizing – or the subsequent lawsuit.
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