After almost four years of being at Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), 33-year-old AJ Vandermeyden has been fired. The female engineer had sued the company citing discrimination and ignorance of complaints of sexual harassment. She claimed that she was taunted and catcalled by male employees who used inappropriate language with her but the employer failed to address these issues.
According to Vandermeyden’s attorney, Therese Lawless, it is unpleasant to fire someone for pointing out legitimate claims. She claims it was an act of retaliation by Tesla.
Tesla justifies Vandermeyden’s termination
Tesla has confirmed having fired the engineer. However, the carmaker has denied that the decision was based on retaliation for the lawsuit. The new global head of human resources, Gabrielle Toledano says that Ms. Vandermeyden’s claims were found to be illegitimate after carrying out a thorough investigation. This was done with the help of “a neutral, third-party expert.”
Her claims were unmerited according to a Tesla spokesperson who said, “Despite repeatedly receiving special treatment at the expense of others, Ms. Vandermeyden nonetheless chose to pursue a miscarriage of justice by suing Tesla and falsely attacking our company in the press.”
Vandermeyden’s firing is likely to reignite debate over employment standards
Lawless will not buy any of Tesla’s justification. Instead, she says that someone is trying to intimidate female employees from speaking out on legal matters. Apparently, her lawsuit had also raised issues about flaws in the quality testing of cars.
Vandermeyden’s firing is likely to raise concerns over employment standards in Silicon Valley. A lot of major corporations have been faced with complaints of sexual misbehavior as well as wage disparities especially for women engineers who are also denied promotions.
This is not the first sexual harassment case that has been in the limelight recently. Earlier in the year former engineer Susan J. Fowler claimed to have experienced sexual harassment while at Uber. There was also a federal lawsuit against Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
In the recent past, Tesla has been dogged by several labor issues over its practices. Latest reports reveal that Tesla workers suffered injuries at a rate of 31% higher than the industry average in 2015. Nonetheless, the company says it has significantly improved safety standards in recent months. Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock closed at $340.37 a fall of $0.64 or 0.19%.
