Tesla lays off LGBTQ+ and diversity leaders after Elon Musk has ‘super bad feeling’
Elon Musk. (Theo Wargo/WireImage)
Elon Musk’s Tesla has reportedly laid off its LGBTQ+ community president and diversity lead as part of a wider set of layoffs.
According to a report by Electrek, a considerable portion of the layoffs included members of the diversity and inclusivity programs.
These included five-year veteran Bobby Beretta-Paris, a Tesla recruiter and its volunteer LGBTQ+ president, and an engineer who volunteered as a diversity and inclusion leader.
Both employees had been promoted three times, and had worked for Tesla for five and four years respectively. There’s no suggestion that Tesla targeted those in diversity and inclusion roles for redundancies.
Earlier in the month, Musk reportedly told Tesla executives that 10 per cent of the workforce needed to be cut after the CEO had a “super-bad feeling” about the economy.
Muks originally said the layoffs would be limited to full-time staff, Electrek reported, however hourly employees were ultimately included in the list of employees let go according to sources.
Musk has dominated headlines for weeks, with his bid to purchase Twitter and turn into into a “free speech” paradise attracting significant scrutiny.
The billionaire has tweeted about the “woke mind virus” several times in the past few months alone.
Unless it is stopped, the woke mind virus will destroy civilization and humanity will never reached Mars
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 19, 2022
He has also faced criticism for tweets focused on trans people and their fight for equality, including a tweet making fun of those who choose to put their pronouns in their Twitter bio. He later followed the meme with a tweet which said: “I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an [a]esthetic nightmare.”
Musk’s behaviour has even prompted the Human Rights Campaign group to issue a statement about his “insensitive comments” not long after giving Tesla a score of 100 on its Corporate Equality Index.
The group’s president Alphonso David said: “Elon Musk’s tweet mocking pronouns is exactly the opposite of what inclusive leadership looks like today. It’s also decidedly out of step with the best practices we advise companies. Musk should apologise.”
Earlier on Tuesday (June 21), Musk’s trans daughter reportedly filed for a name change and a new birth certificate in an effort to sever ties with her father, saying she does not “wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.”
Later that day, Twitter’s board unanimously approved Musk’s proposed takeover.
