INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Tesla is suing a former employee for $1 million, alleging the man hacked the company confidential and trade secret information and
transferred that information to third parties, according to court documents
The lawsuit also claims the employee leaked false information to the media.
The lawsuit against the former process technician Martin Tripp
was filed Wednesday in Nevada
Tesla declined to comment on the lawsuit,which was first reported by CNBC.
The lawsuit only lists the legal team representing Tesla
Efforts to reach Tripp have so far been unsuccessful.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made allegations of sabotage and filed lawsuits against former
employees claiming theft before, at least one of which was dropped after the parties reached an agreement and no wrongdoing was discovered
Earlier this week, Musk sent an email, which CNBC first reported on, about a factory fire and referenced possible sabotage
Another email from Musk alleged that he had discovered a saboteur at the company.
Two years ago, an investigation into possible sabotage was
launched at Musk other company, SpaceX, after a rocket exploded while being fueled up.
And in Musk view, sabotage is a forever looming and
real threat.
Musk tweeted Wednesday that &there is more,& referring to sabotage at the company
&There is more, but the actions of a few bad apples will not stop Tesla from reaching its goals,& he tweeted
&With 40,000 people, the worst 1 in 1000 will have issues
That still ~ 40 people.&
There is more, but the actions of a few bad apples will not stop Tesla from reaching its goals
With 40,000 people, the worst 1 in 1000 will have issues
That still ~40 people.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 20, 2018
According to the lawsuit, Tesla has only begun to understand the full scope
of Tripp illegal activity
The lawsuit claims Tripp has &admitted to writing software that hacked Tesla manufacturing operating system (&MOS&) and to transferring
several gigabytes of Tesla data to outside entities.&
The confidential data includes &dozens& of photographs and a video of Tesla
Tesla alleges that Tripp wrote computer code toperiodically export Tesla data off its network and into the hands of third parties
And the lawsuit says Tripp made false claims to the media about the information he stole.
&For example, Tripp claimed that punctured battery
cells had been used in certain Model 3 vehicles even though no punctured cells were ever used in vehicles, batteries or otherwise,& Tesla
&Tripp also vastly exaggerated the true amount and value of ‘scrap& material that Tesla generated during the manufacturing process, and
falsely claimed that Tesla was delayed in bringing new manufacturing equipment online.&
Tesla appears to be referring to a Business Insider
storyon June 4 about internal documents showing thecompany expects that as much as 40 percent of the raw materials used in battery and
driving unit production would need to be scrapped or reworked.
Tesla claims that Tripp, who was hired in October 2017 at the company massive
battery factory near Reno, committed these acts out of retaliation for being reassigned to a different job.
