This is a partial list of lawsuits involving Tesla, Inc, the American automotive and energy company, since 2008; as of August 2023, Tesla is party to over 1,750 lawsuits, and as of September 2021, it is party to 200 in China alone. A significant number of the cases notably derive from the actions of the company's CEO, Elon Musk, who is also party to many of his own lawsuits. TSLAQ, a loose collective of anonymous short-sellers and skeptics of Tesla and Elon Musk, regularly discusses and shares news of these lawsuits on Twitter and elsewhere.
On-going
Vaughn racism class action suit In 2017, Marcus Vaughn, a former Tesla assembly line worker, filed a class action lawsuit, alleging that black Tesla employees were subject to racist conduct, including "slurs, graffiti and nooses hung at their workstations." Tesla responded by claiming the lawsuit was a "hotbed of misinformation." In February 2024, a judge approved the class status of the approximately 5,977 black employees involved in the suit.
Litigation relating to 2018 CEO performance award In April 2018, Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta brought a lawsuit Tornetta v. Musk, et al in Delaware requesting that Musk's $55 billion pay package from Tesla be rescinded. In January 2024, Judge Kathaleen McCormick agreed. McCormick called the compensation granted by the company's board "an unfathomable sum" that was unfair to shareholders. In response to the ruling, Musk posted on X: "Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware." In June 2024, shareholders approved reincorporating Tesla in Texas and reapproved Musk's compensation. In February 2025, Bloomberg reported that Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman had tweeted, "We are reincorporating our management company in Nevada for the same reason. Top law firms are recommending Nevada and Texas over Delaware."Delaware’s Famed Business Court Gets a Hard Look From Governor as Musk, Ackman Leave, Bloomberg, February 4, 2025, The Delaware Supreme Court overturned the decision in December 2025, restoring Musk's compensation package and awarding $1 in nominal damages.
Securities litigation related to Musk "funding secured" tweet
A class-action lawsuit from August and September 2018 regarding Musk's tweets about potentially going private (In re Tesla Inc. Securities Litigation) ended in February 2023 when a jury found Musk and Tesla not liable.
In October and November 2018, five derivative lawsuits were filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Musk and the members of Tesla's board of directors (as then constituted) in relation to statements and actions connected to the potential going private transaction. These lawsuits were stayed pending resolution of the class-action lawsuit. , two of these cases are still unresolved.
A lawsuit filed in March 2021 alleges that Musk violated his fiduciary duty to Tesla by continuing to send "erratic" tweets in violation of the SEC settlement, and that the board is failing to control Musk. The case was also stayed pending resolution of the class-action lawsuit. , the case is unresolved.
Whistleblower allegations and retaliation In November 2020, former Tesla employee Steven Henkes filed a lawsuit alleging he was fired by Tesla in retaliation for raising safety concerns about "unacceptable fire risks" in the company's solar installations. Tesla solar installations caught fire at seven Walmart locations, as well as an Amazon warehouse. The SEC confirmed in September 2021 that it has an active and ongoing investigation related to the whistleblower complaint Henkes made in 2019. , the case is unresolved.
Agreement misrepresented as loan A Tesla Solar customer alleged in a 2020 filing that the company engaged in "bait-and-switch financing" for reporting his solar-financing agreement as "a massive loan" to credit agencies, therefore upending the customer's credit rating. In April 2021, the case was ordered to arbitration. , the case was still in arbitration.
Texas police complaint In September 2021, five police officers submitted a complaint against, in part Tesla, for a crash involving Autopilot that left them badly injured. The plaintiffs' stated aim is to "force Tesla to publicly acknowledge and immediately correct the known defects inherent in its Autopilot [capability]". , the next trial milestone is August 5, 2024.
Sexual harassment at Fremont facility cases In December 2021, six women working at the Fremont factory and service center sued the company over sexual harassment. , the cases are unresolved.
Fair Employment and Housing racism suit In February 2022, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) sued Tesla for "discriminating against its Black workers" after it "received hundreds of complaints from Tesla workers" and "found evidence that Tesla's Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay and promotion creating a hostile work environment". One Black worker complained of hearing racial slurs as often as 50 to 100 times per day. In a February 2022 blog post, Tesla responded to the lawsuit and stated that they "will be asking the court to pause the case and take other steps to ensure that facts and evidence will be heard."
In August 2022, California's Office of Administrative Law declined to review a petition from Tesla claiming that DFEH failed to conduct a full investigation prior to filing the lawsuit. , the case is unresolved.
Autopilot suits
Litigation is ongoing in at least eight cases involving the use of Tesla Autopilot during a fatal or "otherwise serious" crash. In particular, the cases of Jeremy Banner and Jenna Monet deal with fatal incidents. As of November 2023, the Banner case is expected to go to trial in 2024. As of March 2024, the court case regarding Monet is unresolved.
On August 1, 2025, in a federal trial, a jury found Tesla to be 33% responsible for a crash in which a Tesla Model S, with Autopilot engaged, ran though a T-intersection which had a stop sign and flashing red stop light, then struck a parked vehicle, which then struck two pedestrians, killing one and seriously injuring the other. The verdict was upheld in February 2026, with Tesla ordered to pay $243 million in damages. It was the first case involving Tesla's Autopilot ever to go to federal trial.
Individual racism lawsuit In February 2022, litigation was filed by Marc Cage who alleged racial-based harassment from his Tesla factory coworkers. , the case is stayed, pending arbitration.
Sudden unintended braking class action In August 2022, a consumer class action was filed alleging that the Autopilot system in Tesla cars "contains a hazardous defect which causes the vehicle to suddenly and unintentionally brake", a phenomenon dubbed phantom braking. In November 2024, Tesla failed to persuade a U.S. District Judge to dismiss the lawsuit. The next court date is January 7, 2025.
Deceptive Autopilot and Full Self-Driving advertising In September 2022, a proposed class action federal lawsuit was filed against Tesla for Elon Musk allegedly misleading customers "who since 2016 bought or leased Tesla vehicles with Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features" with his predictions that Teslas would soon be fully autonomous cars. Over 300,000 vehicles were recalled due to being unsafe around intersections. , the case is unresolved.
California Civil Rights Department suit The California Civil Rights Department filed a suit in 2022 alleging "a pattern of racial harassment and bias" at the Tesla Fremont factory. As of April 2023, the department is also conducting a probe of the factory based on a 2021 complaint and claims that Tesla has been obstructing the investigation. , the case is unresolved.
2019 garage accident lawsuit In May 2019, a Tesla owner filed a lawsuit against Tesla after her 2-year-old son performed an unintended acceleration in her Model X and pinned her against the wall of her garage. Harcourt, who was 8 months pregnant at the time, sustained multiple broken bones and went into premature labor. The lawsuit alleges that "the company knew the Model X had issues and that Tesla was negligent in designing the car without proper sensors and other safety features."
xAI resource and talent diversion In June 2024, Tesla shareholders accused Elon Musk and the company's board of knowingly diverting talent and resources away from the company and directing it toward Musk's rival artificial intelligence company, xAI, thereby breaching their fiduciary duty to Tesla. More than a dozen Tesla employees left to work for xAI. Musk has controversially proposed that Tesla invest in xAI.
2025 factory accident lawsuit In September 2025, a worker at the Tesla Fremont Factory sued Tesla for $51 million after being struck and injured by an assembly-line robot.
California DMV lawsuit In February 2026, Tesla sued the California Department of Motor Vehicles after the DMV ruled that Tesla engaged in false advertising with its use of the terms "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving".
Resolved
Fisker Automotive On April 14, 2008, Tesla sued Fisker Automotive, alleging that Henrik Fisker "stole design ideas and confidential information related to the design of hybrid and electric cars" and was using that information to develop the Fisker Karma. Tesla had hired Fisker Coachbuild to design the WhiteStar sedan, but rejected the design that Musk considered "substandard". On November 3, 2008, Fisker Automotive Inc. issued a press release indicating that an arbitrator had issued an interim award finding in Fisker's favor on all claims.
Top Gear review Tesla unsuccessfully sued British television show Top Gear for its 2008 review of the Tesla Roadster (2008) in which Jeremy Clarkson could be seen driving one around the Top Gear test track, complaining about a range of only , before showing workers pushing it into the garage, supposedly out of charge. Tesla filed a lawsuit against the BBC for libel and malicious falsehood, claiming that two cars were provided and that at any point, at least one was ready to drive. The Top Gear producers claimed that the range of 55 mi was calculated by Tesla itself and supplied to Top Gear as an estimate of the car's range when driven hard on a track. In addition, Tesla said that neither car ever dropped below 25% charge, and that the scene was staged. However, Top Gear frequently stages scenes for comedic effect, for example by showing Jeremy Clarkson having to refuel the Jaguar XJS three times during the review of it. The High Court in London rejected Tesla's libel claim. The falsehood claims were later struck out.
Founder dispute The company founding was the subject of a lawsuit that was later dropped after an out-of-court settlement. On May 26, 2009, Eberhard filed suit against Tesla and Musk for slander, libel and breach of contract. Musk wrote a lengthy blog post that included original source documents, including emails between senior executives and other artifacts attempting to demonstrate that Eberhard was fired by Tesla's unanimous board of directors. A judge struck down Eberhard's claim that he was one of only two company founders. Tesla said in a statement that the ruling is "consistent with Tesla's belief in a team of founders, including the company's current CEO and Product Architect Elon Musk, and Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel, who were both fundamental to the creation of Tesla from inception." Eberhard withdrew the case and the parties reached a final settlement. One public provision said that the parties will consider Eberhard, Musk, Straubel, Tarpenning and Wright to be the five co-founders. Eberhard issued a statement about Musk's foundational role in the company: "As a co-founder of the company, Elon's contributions to Tesla have been extraordinary."
Ecotricity agreement