Judge orders new trial in Tesla worker’s race bias lawsuit

U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco granted Tesla’s motion for a new trial a week after the former elevator operator, Owen Diaz, said he would not accept the judge’s award

A federal judge in California on Monday ordered a new trial on the damages Tesla Inc owes to a Black former factory worker who accused the company of race discrimination, after he turned down a $15 million award.

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U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco granted Tesla's motion for a new trial a week after the former elevator operator, Owen Diaz, said he would not accept the judge's award.

A jury last October had awarded Diaz $137 million, one of the largest verdicts ever in a discrimination case involving a single worker. Orrick in April said Tesla was liable to Diaz for discrimination, but he said the award was excessive and lowered it to $15 million.

Diaz's lawyers said last week that the lower award was unjust because it undermined his constitutional rights to a trial by jury.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lawrence Organ, a lawyer for Diaz, said "we are hopeful that a new jury will see the evidence in a similar light to the first jury and that Mr. Diaz will get the justice that the jury system is supposed to provide to him."