The trial opened Monday in Oakland in the case in which California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) accuses Tesla of racial discrimination against Black workers at its Fremont plant, according to Reuters and Electrek. The suit was filed in 2022, covers more than 6,000 workers and alleges years of racial slurs, racist graffiti and job segregation, plus lower pay for Black employees; California law, unlike federal law, puts no ceiling on the damages a court can award. Judge Peter Borkon of Alameda County Superior Court decides the case alone, with no jury, and the trial is scheduled to run through Oct. 30. Tesla denies wrongdoing and says it does not tolerate discrimination; it also faces a racial harassment suit from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), now in mediation.