Workers Rising: NELA 2022 Courageous Plaintiffs

NELA 2022 COURAGEOUS PLAINTIFFS

Owen Diaz Diaz v. Tesla Inc. Represented by Bernard Alexander and Lawrence A. Organ

Owen Diaz is 53 and was born and raised in San Francisco. He went to work at Tesla’s Fremont, California factory in June 2015 with dreams of helping to end global warming. He was hired as an elevator operator and was quickly promoted because of his hard work ethic. His dream turned into a nightmare having been called the N-word on a near daily basis. His hope is that his lawsuit will change Tesla’s behavior towards its Black workers and that it will deter other companies from allowing such racist conduct to occur in the future.

Stephanie Edwards Doe v. Central Connecticut State University et al. Represented by Nina T. Pirrotti

Stephanie Edwards is a veteran of the U.S. military, serving in the Navy from 1985–1995, active duty as a medical corpsman. After leaving the Navy, Mrs. Edwards returned to Connecticut with her three young daughters. She continued to work in the medical field until 1999, when she was hired by the State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families where she worked with families and children in crisis. She also worked as a Police Officer for the State of Connecticut, where she trained to work with individuals struggling with mental illness and addiction. In 2010, Mrs. Edwards joined the Police Department at Central Connecticut State University. The position appealed to her because, as the mother of three then-close-to-collegeaged daughters, she felt a university police force would be a perfect fit for her skills and interests. Each day, she sought to preserve the safety of the campus, utilizing the community policing approach of engaging with students, faculty, and staff. Her positive impact soon became widely known throughout campus. The opportunity for Mrs. Edwards to share her poetry presented itself, and in her spare time she did so at various student events and speaking engagements. Professors and students requested her to share her experience as a female officer from time to time. As an Officer, she would often find herself counseling, encouraging, giving advice, a hug or helping a student in need. Several students would address her as “Mama Mac” as she would go out of her way to assist. Mrs. Edwards has a strong faith and took classes in Ministry whenever she could. After her lawsuit concluded, Mrs. Edwards received her Minister’s license and is continuing her classes to become ordained. She also volunteers with United Ministries Crisis Center and continues to share her poetry with others. Her desire is to reach lives, making an impact, leaving lives in a better place. Mrs. Edwards personal declaration is “if I could reach just one person’s heart each day, I have done something right.”

Charlotte Newman, MBA Charlotte Newman v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al. Represented by Lawrence M. Pearson

Charlotte Newman is a global business development leader in technology and an advocate for workplace equity. She works at the intersection of art, policy, and technology. Over the course of a career spanning nearly two decades, Ms. Newman has moved seamlessly between the private and public sectors. Her career began in politics and policy; subsequently, she served as an advisor for four members of Congress, including U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Chris Murphy. She draws on her experiences as an entrepreneur and an advisor on economic policy to lead a global team as the Head of Underrepresented Founder Startup Business Development at Amazon Web Services. She previously founded an online sports news and lifestyle website to highlight female athletes. She also is an avid art collector and in 2021 was recognized by Artsy as one of the 16 Black art collectors shaping the future of the art world. In March 2021, Ms. Newman filed a federal lawsuit against Amazon alleging not only sexual assault by a manager and disparate treatment based on race and gender, but that the tech giant has a widespread practice of shutting Black professionals out of high-level corporate roles through a process known as “downleveling.” Ms. Newman’s case received global media attention and inspired hundreds of Amazon employees to protest the company’s handling of discrimination and harassment complaints. After Ms. Newman chose to assert her rights in court, Amazon vowed to double the number of Black employees in senior roles and launched an internal investigation into allegations of systemic discrimination and retaliation at AWS.