Tesla's Texas Gigafactory faces more complaints of alleged labor violations
Businesses can face thousands of dollars in fines if OSHA determines that they violated workplace safety rules
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A workers' rights group has filed multiple complaints against Tesla, alleging numerous workplace safety and wage law violations during the construction of the company’s $1.1 billion Gigafactory in Austin.
The Workers Defense Project, a nonprofit based in Texas, filed defense cases to the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
FILE: Contractors works at the Tesla Inc. factory while under construction on Harold Green Road and State Highway 130 in Austin, Texas, U.S., on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. (Bronte Wittpenn/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The complaints alleged that unidentified contractors gave construction workers phony certificates falsely stating that they had completed safety training.
The OSHA complaint, filed on behalf of a carpenter only identified as Victor, alleges he received two digital OSHA certificates despite having received no training. Victor alleged that he knew of other subcontractors at the Gigafactory who also received fake OSHA certificates.
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In another complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Workers Defense Project alleged that an unidentified number of construction workers were not properly paid overtime wages and "a couple" were not paid at all.
Businesses can face thousands of dollars in fines if OSHA determines that they violated workplace safety rules. WHD, meanwhile, can order employers to give backpay to workers who were not paid properly.
FILE: The Tesla Inc. logo is seen on the grille of a Model X electric vehicle at the Moscow Tesla Club in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, July 20, 2018. (Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The complaints come after Monday’s testimony in a Delaware courtroom where a Tesla shareholder challenged a compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk, potentially worth more than $55 billion.
The lawsuit alleges that the performance-based stock option grant was negotiated by a compensation committee and approved in 2018 by Tesla board members who had conflicts of interest due to personal and professional ties to Musk.
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FOX Business has reached out to Tesla for comment.