Tesla responds to allegations of 'pervasive harassment' and gender discrimination (TSLA)

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February 28, 2017 11:47 PM

A female engineer has filed a lawsuit against Tesla alleging she faced "pervasive harassment."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Tesla rebuffed a female engineer's allegations of sexism and harassment in a statement Tuesday, saying an investigation found the claims to be unsubstantiated.

The allegations, by AJ Vandermeyden, were made public by an article in The Guardian. Vandermeyden, who still works at Tesla, says that she was denied promotions despite being as or more qualified than male coworkers and received lower pay.

Vandermeyden, who filed a lawsuit against Tesla, also claims that she experienced "unwelcome and pervasive harassment by men on the factory floor including but not limited to inappropriate language, whistling, and cat calls."

Tesla denied the allegations in a statement Thursday, noting that an inquiry that concluded March 2016 found the claims to be unsubstantiated. The 2016 investigation was conducted by Anne Hilbert, a partner at Employment Matters Counseling & Consulting, a law firm in Palo Alto, California.

Tesla's statement reads in full:

Therese Lawless, a partner at the law firm Lawless & Lawless who is representing Vandermeyden, said the investigation's findings were not entirely accurate.

"It is my understanding that, at least from what I can tell, the investigation, parts of it, are inaccurate and it appears that information was selected in terms of what was given to the investigator," Lawless told Business Insider.

Vandermeyden made her allegations to Tesla's legal department in September and October 2015.

Tesla wrote in its statement that after making those allegations, Vandermeyden was advanced from a manufacturing engineer in the general assembly department into a new role in the purchasing department, which should serve as "evidence of the fact that Tesla is committed to rewarding hard work and talent."

Lawless, however, said after Vandermeyden made the allegations, she voluntarily left the general assembly department and took a new role in the purchasing department where she is still paid less than male counterparts.

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