U.S. automaker Tesla Inc on Monday was hit with a class-action lawsuit claiming its California production plant is a "hotbed for racist behavior." The lawsuit filed in California state court in Oakland is at least the third filed this year by black workers who say they were addressed using racial slurs and that the company ignored their complaints.

...Monday’s lawsuit...is the first to bring those claims on behalf of a large class of black workers at the automaker’s Fremont, California factory.

...The company is also facing lawsuits accusing it of discrimination against gay and older workers. It has denied those claims.