Tesla is facing a significant lawsuit after one of its factory technicians in California was knocked unconscious by an assembly line robot.
According to the Independent, a 50-year-old employee is seeking $51 million from the automaker after being struck “without warning” by the bot, resulting in serious injuries and costly medical bills.
The complaint states that Peter Hinterdobler was helping move a Model 3 production robot. When he tried to remove the robot’s motor, “the robot's arm suddenly…released with…the force of an approximately 8,000-pound counterbalance weight.” The worker was thrown to the ground and he lost consciousness.
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The plaintiff said his injuries have so far cost him $1 million in medical expenses, and he expects to pay another $6 million. He’s seeking $20 million for pain and suffering; $10 million for emotional distress; $9 million total for loss of earning capacity; and $5 million for total loss of “household services,” according to the report.
Robotics manufacturer FANUC is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
This is not the first time one of Tesla’s production robots has been accused of causing bodily harm to a human employee. In 2023, a report surfaced about a robot at a Tesla Gigafactory in Texas pinning an employee against a surface and “pushing its claws into his body.”
Tesla’s factories seem to be extra dangerous for people. As the report points out, similar factories have injury rates around one in 30 workers, while data analysis suggested the rate at Tesla’s facilities was around one in 21.
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