NEWSLETTER
In Washington, Elon Musk has been at the forefront of the Trump administration efforts to gut programs designed to promote diversity.
At the same time, Tesla, the electric car company that Mr. Musk leads, in recent days, with little notice, has tried to appease critics who have accused the company of racial discrimination.
In a little less section of the annual report of the company published on January 29, its Board promised to monitor “how Tesla recruits, develops and retains excellent talent.”
For the shareholders who have pressed for a long time to address racism complaints in their factory in Fremont, California, the generic writing seemed to represent a rare case to change their behavior of the company against criticism.
For the first time, the Board was responsible for how the company treats the employees, some investors said. He has been accused of demands of being too passive in his supervision of Mr. Musk, who directs several other companies and has been deputy by President Trump to reduce government spending.
“This is something we have wanted for a long time,” said Kristin Hull, founder of NIA Impact Capital, an Oakland -based investment fund, California, who has presented resolutions of shareholders who ask the Board to assume a more active role .
Tesla recognized in a separate letter to the regulators of the stock market that was responding to the criticisms of Dr. Hull and other shareholders. The company, which represented almost half of the electric cars sold in the United States last year, has been sued by the California Civil Rights Department, so the agency called “generalized racial discrimination and harassment.” Tesla's black employees have also filed demands.
Tesla has denied that he has dedicated himself to discrimination and is disputing the demands, although, in March, he resolved a case presented by a black worker who had won a jury award against Tesla.
Fremont factory workers have complained that they were subjected to racial insults and racist images. A state agency also said that the workers reported that they received a physically more arduous job and denied transfers and promotions more frequently than other workers.
The company did not respond to a request for comments.
Dr. Hull said that it was “ironic” that Tesla seems to be intensifying his efforts to promote equality in the workplace, even when Mr. Musk attacks diversity, equity and inclusion, or the programs ofi. Often attacks the diversity efforts in x, making false and deceptive statements about them.
There are also signs that the political opinions of Mr. Musk and his close association with Trump and other right -wing political leaders are hurting Tesla's sales. Electric cars buyers tend to be more liberal than Mr. Musk and his political allies. Tesla's sales in Germany fell 59 percent in January, compared to the same month last year, after Musk supported a nationalist political party.
Surveys have shown that Mr. Musk's policy is inciting some American cars buyers to choose other brands. In California, that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in November, New Teslas inscriptions fell 12 percent last year, even when general sales of cars and electric trucks increased slightly, according to the New Car dealer dealer association in California. California represents almost a third of all electric vehicles sold in the United States.
Dr. Hull said that while the Tesla Board was vague on how the directors would monitor working conditions, established a legal obligation with the shareholders.
“Is it concrete or detailed enough? No, ”she said. “But it is much more than we expected from Tesla.”
NIA IMPACT will withdraw a resolution that planned to present at the next annual TESLA meeting by calling the Board to “inform investors on how and how often the Compensation Committee reviews the company's human capital management practices,” said the Dr. Hull.
Two other investors, the amalgamate bank and the impact of power, co -crocked the proposal. Both companies push companies to be more inclusive in their hiring.
“Recognizing the need for more dissemination of the Compensation Committee on Human Capital Management is a good first step, and we expect more explicit information,” said Proxy Impact executive, in an email.
The promise of the Tesla Board to pay more attention to human resources was a direct response to the resolution of NIA Impact, according to a letter that Xuehui Cassie Zhang, an associated general advisor of Tesla, sent the Bag and Securities Commission the Bolsa and Securities last month.
After receiving the proposed resolution, according to the letter, the management and the members of the Board decided to include “additional disseminations on the supervision of the Compensation Committee for the Company's Human Capital Management Practices.” The letter requested permission from regulators to exclude the resolution of the shareholders meeting, arguing that “the company has already substantially implemented the proposal.”
Tesla opposed similar proposals in previous years.
Mrs. Zhang did not respond to a request for comments.
His letter pointed out that the letter of the Compensation Committee has already requested that it supervise “how the company recruits, develops and retains a diverse talent.”
However, the annual report did not mention diversity, referring only to the objective of recruiting “excellent” talent.
Dr. Hull said she equated excellence with diversity, but added: “I would like to know more about what Tesla sees as” excellent. “
(Tagstotranslate) Electric and hybrid vehicles
