California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, saying Black employees at the company's location in Fremont, California have been subjected to racism and harassment for the past decade. The complaint, filed by the state this week, points to several instances of racist language being used towards Black employees at Elon Musk's company, NPR reports. 

Additionally, the company is accused of penalizing Black employees more harshly than white employees, as well as denying Black employees career advancement opportunities and equal pay for work similar to that of other employees.

"These numerous complaints by Black and/or African American workers about racial harassment, racial discrimination, and retaliation lodged over a span of almost a decade have been futile," the lawsuit states. "Tesla has continued to deflect and evade responsibility. While it claims to not tolerate racial harassment or discrimination at its factories, Tesla's investigations of complaints are not compliant with law."

Pointing to specific examples, the complaint states that Tesla continually failed to clean up racist graffiti at its facility, including ones with swastikas, KKK, the N-word and other hate symbols. According to the lawsuit, one Black employee saw "hang N[ ]" written next to an image of a noose in the bathroom of the break room.

The same employee also saw racist language such as "all monkeys work outside" and "fuck N[ ]" written on the walls of the break room, but the writing and drawings remained for months, the complaint adds.

Black Tesla employees, according to the lawsuit, have been facing discrimination since 2012. Managers and supervisors at the Fremont location are accused of "constantly" using the N-word and other racial slurs toward Black workers. Some employees allegedly displayed visible tattoos of the Confederate flag to intimidate Black workers. 

Prosecutors said Black employees also faced retaliation for complaining about harassment and discrimination. 

Tesla responded to the allegations in a public blog post titled "The DFEH's Misguided Lawsuit." 

"Tesla strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment and has a dedicated Employee Relations team that responds to and investigates all complaints," the company wrote. "Tesla has always disciplined and terminated employees who engage in misconduct, including those who use racial slurs or harass others in different ways."