Tesla sues former employee for allegedly stealing gigabytes of data, making false claims to media

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Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla

Tesla is suing a former employee for allegedly exporting gigabytes of confidential data, according to a lawsuit filed in Nevada on Wednesday.

The electric car maker said it is only beginning to understand all of former process technician Martin Tripp’s allegedly illegal activity. The suit said Tripp “has thus far admitted to writing software that hacked Tesla’s manufacturing operating system (“MOS”) and to transferring several gigabytes of Tesla data to outside entities.”

The data includes “dozens of confidential photographs and a video of Tesla’s manufacturing systems.”

In addition to that, Tesla alleges Tripp wrote computer code to periodically export Tesla’s data to people outside the company.

Furthermore, the suit alleges that Tripp made false statements to the media.

“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,” the suit said. “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 said in the suit that Tripp had complained he had not been given a more senior role in the company and was combative and disruptive with fellow employees. The suit alleges Tripp took his actions retaliation for being reassigned to a new role within Tesla.

Tesla declined to comment on the lawsuit.

This comes a day after CNBC reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had sent an email to Tesla employees saying one worker had committed extensive sabotage.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Here is the full lawsuit:

Download the full PDF here.