Tesla Sabotage: Tesla Sues Former Employee After Email Alleging Sabotage

It’s been a dramatic few days for Tesla as the effort to ramp up Tesla Model 3 production to 5,000 cars per week by the end of the month approaches. Over the weekend, CEO Elon Musk sent an email to employees alleging that a former employee had sabotaged the company by interfering with code and leaking sensitive information. There was also a small fire.

Though it’s still not clear whether it relates to the contents of Musk’s email, CNBC also reported on Wednesday that Tesla was suing a former employee over behavior that resembles the misconduct Musk initially described. Tesla declined to comment on the lawsuit to CNBC and didn’t immediately respond to Inverse’s request for comment.

So how serious was the sabotage? According to the report, the lawsuit accuses a former employee named Martin Tripp of writing inserting code into Tesla’s manufacturing operating system that leaked Tesla data to outside parties. The company also accused Tripp of making false or misleading statements to media about the use of punctured battery cells in vehicles and the quantity of scrap metal the company generates.

Fortunately for Tesla, the company has broken a lot of good news this week as well. Most notably, the company built 6,000 Model 3s in June, on its way to breaking its record 2,000 car week which it reported last April.