In February 2018, attorney Valeria Capers Workman joined Tesla Group’s legal department. Just two years later, in July 2020, she became the top HR manager in Elon Musk’s empire – now she’s leaving.
The lawyer’s departure after almost four years was initially only known through an entry on her Linkedin profile. Valeria Caper’s workman confirmed the end of the employment relationship to Bloomberg. Her new goal is also known: Workman will soon join the US personnel consultancy Handshake as chief counsel.
The electrician has not yet commented on the loss. Workman herself also gave no reasons for her departure. She simply thanked her employees and “passed on the baton at Tesla in a better position than she received it herself,” she explained.
The departure is a major setback for Tesla boss Elon Musk and the entire group. Workman was one of the most prominent employees, even though she only worked for the company for a short time. Workman has played a crucial role in the discussion about racial discrimination in the workplace, especially since Tesla himself was heavily involved in the matter. Lawsuits against the electric car manufacturer rained down.
In a spectacular case, Tesla had to pay $137 million to a black employee in October 2021. The 53-year-old man was employed at a factory in Fremont near San Francisco between 2015 and 2016. The court found that he was repeatedly confronted with racist remarks at work.
The now former head of human resources took part in the court hearings every day. After the verdict was announced, she informed the employees that the harsh verdict was not justified. However, the company had to admit that the conditions “were not perfect”.
Workman recalled her own experiences as a black person after the murder of African American George Floyd. In the protests that followed, there were further cases of police violence. “When I drove to work back then, I clipped my company badge to my seat belt so that I wouldn’t look for it in the event of a sudden police check and make the wrong move,” says the lawyer.
Tesla boss Elon Musk was able to count on his HR manager even during the pandemic. Months later, after the San Francisco case, the hiring manager continued to defend Musk’s actions. According to Workman, the company’s image had been misrepresented to the public.
