A former Tesla engineer has come forward in the midst of a legal battle involving Elon Musk, alleging that her entire team faced threats of deportation.
Cristina Balan, who was part of the team working on the Model S, reportedly identified a potential safety concern with the vehicle’s brakes in 2014 and brought it to the attention of Elon Musk, the company’s founder.
In 2013, Musk had assured all Tesla employees through an email that they could speak to “anyone” within the company without needing prior permission and were “obligated to do so until the right thing happens”.
Despite this, when Balan raised the issue with Musk via email and was granted a meeting, she claims she was met by a lawyer instead.
Balan alleges Tesla demanded her resignation, and the company’s lawyer warned her team faced deportation if she refused.
She eventually signed a resignation letter, stating, as Electrek reported: “I’m resigning for the position that I was put in a month ago bc I dare to speak up to the Sr management, also bc people that had the chance to speak up were threatened…”
Following a story by The Huffington Post about Balan, a Tesla spokesperson accused her of criminal activity, claiming she secretly recorded meetings with supervisors.
Balan filed a defamation suit against Tesla, arguing the claims were unsubstantiated. However, Tesla lawyers appealed to the 9th Circuit, moving the case to arbitration.
Tesla’s employee agreement mandates that employees agree to “arbitration as the exclusive method for economically and efficiently resolving any and all disputes and claims between” the company and the employee.
Arbitration involves a neutral third party, known as an arbiter, who hears both sides’ arguments outside of the court system.
The LA Times reported that Balan’s case would not be heard in open court, resulting in the dismissal of her defamation suit.
Nevertheless, Balan decided to appeal the decision.
On April 14, it was announced that she successfully overturned the arbitration ruling.
Balan now aims to present her case against Tesla in open court.
In an interview with The Times UK, she expressed her anticipation to “prove how vindictive this monster is,” referring to Musk.
She criticized Musk as “pure evil,” asserting that “he’s enjoying hurting people… and you don’t know about them because he’s forcing everybody to give up their freedom of speech and their right to sue.”
In a conversation with the BBC, Balan stated she “wish[es] Elon Musk had the decency to apologise” and her main goal is to “clear [her] name”.