April 13 (Reuters)-Federal Judge said Wednesday by Tesla (TSLA.O) The electric car company ignored the racial abuse in the factory where he worked, but was responsible for the black elevator operator who said he had reduced the jury prize of nearly $ 137 million to $ 15 million.

San Francisco’s U.S. District Judge William Orick exposes Owen Diaz to a hostile environment at his Tesla factory in Fremont, California, for allowing and not stopping the racism he faced. After discovering what he did, he decided.

Diaz, who worked at the factory for nine months in 2015 and 2016, used a racist slur when other employees talked to him, and swastikas containing “N-word” on the walls of the bathroom. Said he scribbled the slur. He also said that one supervisor painted a racist caricature near his workstation.

In the decision on page 43, Orrick fully supports the jury’s finding that Tesla is responsible for the “serious” emotional harm that Diaz suffered and the “often inadequate” disciplinary action taken by the company. Stated.

However, the judge reduced Diaz’s compensatory damages from the “excessive” $ 6.9 million awarded by the jury to $ 1.5 million, and punitive damages from the “unconstitutionally large” $ 130 million jury trial. Reduced compensation to $ 13.5 million.

In an interview, Diaz’s lawyer Bernard Alexander said his client would seek a reduction in damages.

“We are pleased that the court has upheld the jury’s finding that Tesla’s actions have been absolutely condemned,” Alexander said.

“The $ 15 million prize pool is considerable, but far from reflecting the harm caused by Mr. Diaz or the accusations of Tesla’s actions,” he added.

Tesla and his lawyer did not immediately respond to the request for comment. The company was trying to limit compensatory and punitive damages to $ 300,000 each.

Tesla, led by billionaire Elon Musk, faces similar allegations in other proceedings.

In one such case, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing claimed in February that black workers at the Fremont factory endured constant harassment, but their complaints were ignored.

Tesla previously called the proceedings going in the wrong direction and said it had adopted policies to prevent and punish racist acts.

Compensatory damages mean covering the actual loss, and punitive damages means punishing and deterring the breach.

In US Supreme Court case law, punitive damages usually need to be less than 10 times compensatory damages.

Legal experts called Diaz’s original $ 137 million award one of the biggest awards for a single plaintiff claiming discrimination in the workplace.

The case is Diaz v Tesla Inc et al, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 17-06748.

Report by Jonathan Stempel and Daniel Wisner of New York.Edited by Christian Schmoringer and Kenneth Maxwell

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