Man accused of sabotage at Tesla brings his own lawsuit over defamation

Enlarge / Elon Musk speaks on stage during the Westworld Featured Session during SXSW at Austin Convention Center on March 10, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (credit: Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic for HBO)

Martin Tripp, an ex-Tesla technician the company has accused of hacking and sabotage, has now countersued his former employer and claimed that Tesla defamed him.

Since Tesla fired Tripp and sued him more than a month ago for alleged trade secrets theft, he has hired a New York attorney to help him file a formal whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CEO Elon Musk has suggested that there could be tens of "bad apples" who have also committed "sabotage" against the company in an apparent effort to thwart Tesla's ambitious promised ramp-up to produce 5,000 Model 3s per week. In recent months the company mounted an unusual tent-like apparatus known as a Sprung structure that houses a new assembly line as part of its factory in Fremont, California.

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