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50-Year-Old Employee Alleged Security Failure After Being Hit by Robot at Tesla Factory and Sought Million-Dollar Compensation; Case Only Came to Light
An incident involving an industrial robot led a Tesla employee to file a million-dollar lawsuit against the electric vehicle manufacturer. The case occurred on July 22, 2023, inside the Fremont facility in California, but only came to light now through a report from the British site The Independent.
Accident on the Model 3 Line
The employee, Peter Hinterdobler, 50, was injured while disassembling a robot used in the production of the Tesla Model 3.
He was helping an engineer remove the motor from the machine when the arm of the equipment struck him with an estimated force of 8,000 pounds.
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The impact was so strong that he fell to the ground and lost consciousness. The defense claims that since then, the worker has accumulated US$ 1 million in medical expenses and estimates an additional US$ 6 million in future treatment costs.
Billion-Dollar Compensation Requested in Court
The lawsuit seeks amounts totaling US$ 51 million (approximately R$ 270 million). Hinterdobler requests US$ 20 million for pain, suffering, and inconvenience; US$ 10 million for emotional distress; US$ 1 million for lost wages; along with US$ 8 million for loss of earning capacity.
In addition to Tesla, the robot manufacturer FANUC is also named in the action. The lawyers claim that the automaker did not ensure safe conditions before the disassembly and that the Japanese company did not adequately train the employees.
Defense Claims and Repercussions
According to the representatives of the worker, the robot was neither de-energized nor properly stabilized at the time of the accident.
This negligence, according to the argument, was crucial for the impact to occur.
So far, both Tesla and FANUC have chosen not to publicly comment on the case. The lawsuit is still in its early stages in the United States courts.
Robotics at the Center of Tesla Strategy
Despite the controversy, Tesla continues to heavily invest in robotics. The company has been developing humanoids known as Tesla Bot or Optimus.
Elon Musk stated two years ago that he could manufacture up to 20 billion units in the future.
Therefore, the judgment of this case could have repercussions not only for the automaker but also for how large industries handle safety in highly automated environments.
With information from Vrum.
