Tesla faces sanctions bid in California wrongful death lawsuit
By Mike Scarcella
Oct 28 (Reuters) -The estate of a man who was killed in 2021 after his Tesla crashed and caught fire has asked a federal judge in San Francisco to sanction the electric vehicle maker over stalled efforts to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.
Lawyers for the estate of Charles Leach said in a court filing on Friday night that Tesla violated a court order by failing to send a company official with settlement authority to a mediation hearing last month.
The estate's lawyers said they reached a deal to resolve the wrongful death lawsuit for a confidential amount, but they learned hours into the September hearing that Tesla’s designee, a products liability lawyer, could not approve a settlement agreement on his own.
Tesla's actions caused the parties to breach the settlement agreement, the lawyers said. The estate asked the court to award $9,600 in legal fees as a sanction against the Elon Musk-owned carmarker.
Tesla and its attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and neither did lawyers for the driver’s estate.
Tesla has denied any wrongdoing, blaming the driver for the fatal crash. A jury trial in the case is scheduled for July 2025.
The estate's lawsuit said Leach’s Tesla Model Y “suddenly” accelerated, went off the road and slammed into a pillar at an Ohio gas station. Leach, 72, died from blunt force trauma, burns and other injuries.
“Tesla was aware that its vehicles — including the Model Y — have reportedly on hundreds of occasions accelerated suddenly and without explanation,” the lawsuit said.
Tesla has responded that Leach was solely to blame for “improper and unsafe” operation of his 2021 vehicle. The company said Leach’s model “was state-of-the-art and was not defective in design or manufacture.”
Tesla has faced other lawsuits over crashes blamed on alleged defects in its electric vehicles. Tesla last year won the first trial over claims that its Autopilot driver assistant feature led to a death.
Tesla separately faces U.S. legal and regulatory scrutiny over its driver assistance systems. In December, Tesla recalled millions of vehicles to install new safeguards.
The case is Donna Leach v Tesla, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 3:23-cv-03378-SI.
For plaintiff: Todd Walburg and Scott Baez of McCune Law Group
For defendant: Sandra Ezell of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
Read more:
US probes Tesla's Full Self-Driving software in 2.4 mln cars after fatal crash
Exclusive - Tesla Autopilot probe, US prosecutors focus on securities, wire fraud
Tesla settles case over fatal Autopilot crash of Apple engineer
Elon Musk defeats bid to be questioned in Tesla fatal crash lawsuit
Reporting by Mike Scarcella
Aset Berkaitan
Berita Terkini
Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
