Tesla's Employee Lawsuit Saga Grows Weirder by the Minute

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears to be on the hunt for potential saboteurs and thieves. However, as the company doubles down on Model 3 assembly both inside its Fremont, California plant and the tent erected outside, a murky sideshow has emerged.

On Sunday night, Musk emailed employees to alert them to the actions of a saboteur caught hacking the automaker’s manufacturing operating system (MOS), cautioning them to be on the lookout for other nefarious deeds. The automaker then filed a lawsuit against process technician Martin Tripp, who Tesla alleges stole several gigabytes worth of data from the MOS and funnelled the info, which included photos, to shadowy third parties. Incorrect statements were also made to the media by the disgruntled employee, Tesla claims, and it’s now seeking its pound of flesh (as well as its data, plus punitive damages) via the suit.

Tripp’s now telling his side of the story. Oh, and there’s a workplace shooting threat to toss into the mix, too.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Tripp, who was fired last week, said he’s not a saboteur or a thief. Rather, the ex-employee says he’s a whistleblower who felt compelled to speak anonymously to the media after seeing “some really scary things.”

These scary things supposedly include battery packs with punctured cells being placed in “hundreds” of automobiles during the company’s rush to reach a promised production rate of 5,000 Model 3s per week by the end of June — a claim made to the media earlier this month. Tesla says this never occurred.

The allegations in Tesla’s lawsuit are incorrect, Tripp said, including the charge that he wrote code in order to draw the data from the automaker’s MOS. “I don’t have the patience for coding,” he told the Washington Post. He also refutes the allegation that he was combative with co-workers and decided to hack the company after becoming displeased with his low-tier position.

“That’s their generic excuse,” he said. “I could literally care less.”

It’s a case of he said/they said, and Tripp will get his day in court. On Thursday morning, however, the story took on an even strange twist.

Police were called to Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory, source of the Model 3’s batteries and Tripp’s former place of employment. A Tesla spokesperson told CNBC that a person claiming to be a friend of Tripp phoned the automaker on Wednesday afternoon, warning them that Tripp was “going to shoot the place up.”

The company called the authorities and beefed up security at the Gigafactory, Tesla claims. After an investigation, the Stoney County sheriff’s office found “no credible threat” against the building or its workers.

Tripp told Ars Technica that he made no such threat.

“Absolutely not!” he said. “The ONLY thing I have said to any ‘friends’ is I sent a link to the CNBC article to five of them and asked if they really thought I was a hacker.”

Tripp provided Ars with a June 20th email exchange that took place after Tesla filed the lawsuit. In it, Tripp wrote to Musk, claiming, “Don’t worry, you have what’s coming to you for the lies you have told to the public and investors.” Musk took this as a direct threat; Tripp said it wasn’t. Just a karma kind of thing.

Musk then wrote that Tripp should feel ashamed of himself for “framing other people,” calling him “a horrible human being.” In response, Tripp denied he framed anyone (the lawsuit claims he installed his hacking software in three other computers to avoid detection), accusing Tesla, again, of unsafe practices and exorbitant waste at its assembly plants.

In his conversation with Ars, Tripp said he raised these concerns both with his manager and his HR rep, only to receive the brush-off.

The saga continues.

[Image: Elon Musk/ Twitter]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 34 comments
  • Eliyahu Eliyahu on Jun 21, 2018

    Manufacturing complex products is perhaps not rocket science, but it still requires the coordination of many activities. It is fair to question, like the financial press, whether there is any realistic possibility of meeting the announced production goals. Without any pretense of actually gathering further information, my bet is a resounding NO. Musk may need diversions as much as el Presidente. Maybe a few more cars put into orbit?

  • Master Baiter Master Baiter on Jun 22, 2018

    What kind of moron goes and talks to the media when he's in the middle of a lawsuit? I agree the punctured cell story sounds like BS, mainly because it's very difficult to puncture a steel-can cylindrical LiIon cell. Doing so would most likely not cause a fire however; it would cause electrolyte leakage and moisture ingress which would make the cell fail in a benign way. All cells much pass a much more severe nail penetration test without smoke or fire in order to receive agency certification.

  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
Next