A Former Employee Claims Tesla Knowingly Sold Defective Cars

An ex-Tesla employee has filed a lawsuit claiming that the electric car maker knowingly sold faulty and damage-repaired cars without telling consumers

A former Tesla employee has filed a lawsuit against the electric car maker, accusing it of knowingly selling defective or even dangerous cars.

According to papers filed with the New Jersey Superior Court, ex-Tesla regional manager Adam Williams says he saw first-hand that the company failed “to disclose to consumers high-dollar, pre-delivery damage repairs” and that cars with potentially serious issues were simply used as demonstrators or even sold as ‘used.’ One shocking example was uploaded to the Tesla Motors Club forum.

Williams also claims that he was demoted and ultimately fired after he reported the alleged shady goings-on to the Tesla East Coast regional manager Lenny Peake and company vice president Jerome Guillen.

The lawsuit alleges a whole bundle of illegal practices and Williams’ lawyer is reportedly asking for him to be protected by America’s ‘whistleblower act’ that covers employees who report such things.

Naturally, Tesla denies the claims. A spokesman told The Verge:“There’s no merit to this lawsuit. Mr. Williams’ description of how Tesla sells used or loaner vehicles is totally false and not how we do things at Tesla.“It’s also at odds with the fact that we rank highest in customer satisfaction of any car brand, with more owners saying they’d buy a Tesla again than any other manufacturer.“Mr. Williams was terminated at Tesla for performance reasons, not for any other reason.”

Production quality issues are not a new thing for Tesla, with the Model 3 coming in for stinging criticism over its build quality, not to mention perpetual delivery delays.