Tesla fired a female engineer after claiming that her accusations of sexual harassment at the company were false and “unmerited.”
Engineer AJ Vandermeyden “claimed she was taunted and catcalled by male employees and that Tesla failed to address her complaints about the harassment, unequal pay and discrimination,” according to The Guardian. However, Tesla claimed to have “had thoroughly investigated the employee’s allegations with the help of ‘a neutral, third-party expert’ and concluded her complaints were unmerited.”
In a statement, Tesla claims to have fired Vandermeyden after launching an investigation into her claims and discovering that they were “illegitimate.”
“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,” said a Tesla spokesperson following Vandermeyden’s dismissal. “After we carefully considered the facts on multiple occasions and were absolutely convinced that Ms Vandermeyden’s claims were illegitimate, we had no choice but to end her employment at Tesla.”
Despite Tesla’s statement, Vandermeyden’s lawyer blamed the dismissal on sexism.
“This was absolutely shocking for AJ. She is devastated,” said Vandermeyden’s lawyer, Therese Lawless. “She brought the lawsuit in an attempt to make the workplace at Tesla more equitable and fair and to have Tesla comply with the law.”
“They’ve just proven our case. It’s clear retaliation,” she continued. “Somebody is trying to instill in employees that when they speak out about matters they are legally allowed to speak out about, they too will be fired… It’s shocking in this day and age that this is still a fight we have to have.”
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.
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