A day after bravely preventing a Tesla fire at a delivery location in Norway, Lukasz Krupski received an email from Elon Musk, congratulating him on his courage. However, things quickly soured and escalated into a legal battle between Tesla and Mr. Krupski. The technician shared internal Tesla data with a German business newspaper and stories were published on the Autopilot software and other internal communications in a way that has led to lawsuits and investigations into Tesla’s data protection.
In the United States, Benson Pai is suing Tesla over lax security and exposure of employee information. Despite initially being hailed as a savior by Elon Musk, Mr. Krupski was ultimately fired after raising safety concerns in his workplace. He later found himself in a legal battle with Tesla as he sought compensation for his unfair dismissal. Additionally, he shared his concerns about potential problems with Tesla’s accounting practices with U.S. regulators.
Mr. Krupski was the victim of threats and harassment from co-workers after the incident, which led to severe stress-related health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also faced accusations from Tesla about violating company policy by taking photos to document safety issues. Although Tesla claimed Mr. Krupski was not targeted, a court injunction was obtained against him to prevent further distribution of company information.
Mr. Krupski’s situation has resulted in financial difficulties, having exhausted his savings and unable to pursue legal action due to Norway’s laws against lawyers working on commission. He has served Tesla with a notice of intent to sue but is unable to proceed due to lack of resources. This story began as one of heroism but ultimately ended up as a battle involving lawsuits, investigations, and privacy concerns.
