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Tesla Is Seeking $167 Million From Former Employee Accused of Sabotage (cnbc.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the bitter-legal-battles dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Tesla is seeking more than $167 million in a lawsuit against former employee Martin Tripp, recent legal filings revealed. In the lawsuit, which was filed by the electric car maker in June, Tesla alleges that Tripp, a former process engineer, had illegally exported data and made false claims to reporters, among other things. Tripp had earlier claimed in a number of press interviews that Tesla engaged in poor manufacturing practices at its massive battery plant outside of Reno, Nevada, and that it may have used damaged battery modules in its Model 3 vehicles, posing a risk to drivers.

An interim case management report published on Nov. 27 reveals that Tripp's attorneys aim to depose Tesla CEO Elon Musk and more than 10 people involved with the company. Tesla has refused to make Musk available and sought to limit the number of people deposed by Tripp's defense team at the law firm Tiffany & Bosco. Tripp's lawyers wrote in that report: "Tesla has objected to Mr. Tripp's desire to take more than ten depositions... In this case, where Mr. Tripp is being sued for more than $167,000,000 and has asserted counterclaims against Tesla, more than ten depositions is certainly reasonable and appropriate." Tripp attorney Robert D. Mitchell said in an email to CNBC: "The purported damage amount claimed by Tesla relates to supposed dips in Tesla's stock price by virtue of the information Mr. Tripp provided to the press last summer." He characterized the damage claims as "absurd."

4 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Not a smart move by Tesla by haruchai · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What's to prevent Elon being sued for the amount he caused the stock to drop with his brain farts about "funding secured" that triggered the SEC going after him?

    --
    Pain is merely failure leaving the body
  2. Sabotage??? by borcharc · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Not sure how allegedly stealing data and talking to the press is sabotage???

    sabotage /sabtäZH/
    verb
    verb: sabotage; 3rd person present: sabotages; past tense: sabotaged; past participle: sabotaged; gerund or present participle: sabotaging

            1.
            deliberately destroy, damage, or obstruct (something), especially for political or military advantage.
            synonyms: vandalize, wreck, damage, destroy, cripple, impair, incapacitate

    1. Re:Sabotage??? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The whole Tesla saga is eerily reminiscent of Enron. Check out these quotes:

      Lay (CEO of Enron) told Enron employees in October 2001 that Enron was under attack by short-sellers "just like America's under attack by terrorism." Lay's lawyer, Michael Ramsey, had referred to the short- sellers as "vultures."

      Musk: "The last several years have taught me that short-sellers are indeed reasonably maligned. What they do should be illegal.”

      Be very wary of any executive who hates short sellers. Short sellers are the only ones looking critically at a stock. Everyone else is just a cheerleader and that leads to bubbles and fraud.

  3. Re: Or Musk is the liar by 110010001000 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You can't even do that. You can show him the tweet where Musk calls some guy who rescued kids a "pedo" and fanboys will always come up with some justification. Just like some people didn't really believe that Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme even after they were shown the proof. It is a combination of hero worship and self-delusion and techo-elitism that drives it.