Tesla agreed to enter mediation that could resolve the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s lawsuit accusing Elon Musk’s electric car maker of tolerating severe and widespread harassment of Black employees at its Fremont, California, assembly plant.

The EEOC stated it is working with Tesla to choose a mediator, and negotiations could begin in March or April. Both sides will forward a proposal to the presiding judge by June 17 on what happens if settlement discussions and mediation are unsuccessful.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco agreed on Tuesday night to put some evidence-gathering deadlines on hold so mediation could take priority.

Tesla and the EEOC did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.

The agency sued Tesla in September 2023 during the Biden administration, alleging the company’s employment practices violated federal law.

It is alleged that harassment at the Fremont plant included racial slurs and displays of racist graffiti such as swastikas and nooses. Some of the graffiti appeared on vehicles rolling off the assembly line, it said.

Tesla has denied knowledge of the harassment and accused the agency of “headline-chasing.”

The Austin, Texas-based automaker has faced several lawsuits over the alleged mistreatment of workers at the Fremont plant.

It won a legal victory on November 17 when a California state judge ruled more than 6,000 Black workers at the plant could not sue Tesla as a group in a class action, because many workers chosen to testify were unwilling to do so.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Edwina Gibbs, Elaine Hardcastle)