A Year of Telepathy

Pervasive usage of racial slurs by management: "Robert Hurtado, a supervisor at Tesla, called Diaz the N-word over 30 times, including by saying "[N-word], hurry up," "[N-words] are lazy," and "I wish I can get all you [N-words] fired." Tr. 3:604:23-606:8. Ramon Martinez, another Tesla supervisor, called Diaz the N-word over thirty times, said "I hate you, [N-word]," and told him "to go back to Africa." Tr. 3-603:11-604:20. Diaz's supervisor, Tamotsu "Tom" Kawasaki, testified that Martinez often used the words "mayate" and "chongo," both racial slurs in Spanish. Tr. 2-281:9-12."

Burying complaints of proven racism and reprimanding the person bringing the complaint of racism: "Diaz testified that at one point, Martinez threatened to physically attack him at work and yelled at him, "You [N-words] aren't S-H-I-T." Tr. 3-610:2-612:7. Diaz complained to a supervisor, Ed Romero, and asked him to check the surveillance cameras, though Diaz's subsequent email complaint did not specifically mention racial insults. Tr. 3-612:8-614:23; see also Tr. 3-546:25-548:2 (Romero confirming this was recounted in an email). Tesla did not follow up, show Diaz the video, or interview witnesses after that event. Tr. 3-546:25-548:2, 612:8-614:23. Jackson testified that he interviewed Diaz and Martinez after the incident but did not interview the eyewitness, Rothaj Foster, because he was told by his boss to stop the investigation before it was complete. Tr. 2-387:10-390:18, 2-394:24-395:11. Jackson said he had "[v]ery little" control over how he investigated complaints. Tr. 2-396:8-397:12. Jackie Delgado Smith, a Human Resources representative, testified that Tesla HR was never told of the incident. Tr. 5-954:15-955:6. Subsequently, Diaz and Martinez were both given verbal warnings. Tr. 2-395:21-396:7. Martinez still works at Tesla. Tr. 3-571:11."

Regular presence of objectively racist symbols in workplace facilities: "In addition to verbal harassment, Diaz encountered physical symbols of racism and hostility throughout his time at Tesla. On his second day at work, he saw racist graffiti in the bathroom, and continued to see the N-word and swastikas in bathrooms throughout the rest of his employment. Tr. 3-623:1-8. Another Black employee and later supervisor, Michael Wheeler, testified that he regularly saw racist graffiti, including the N-word and swastikas, and that Diaz reported the racist graffiti he saw to Wheeler. Tr. 2-346:17-347:17."

[1] https://casetext.com/case/diaz-v-tesla-inc-7

Personally, I can't imagine why he would throw one, so a priori it seems like an unlikely gesture, though I admit it's strange what he does in the video I saw.

The most awkward part of it is the beginning of the gesture where he clutches his chest like he's having a heart attack. I've tried searching for what a sieg heil actually looks like and had a hard time finding videos on YouTube, but I don't think grabbing the chest is part of it, right? Can someone clarify what the gesture really is? The couple I saw from Hitler were just a swift raising of the hand from the waist.