Tesla’s racism trial in California opened Monday with a bad day for the company’s lawyers. The first witness testified that a senior Tesla in-house attorney had called him last week and let him believe he was working for the state, according to Law360 (paywall).That same morning, Tesla’s outside counsel told the judge the N-word is a “term of respect and endearment” in the Black community. Both happened in front of Judge Peter Borkon, the one person who will decide the case. more…