Tesla sued after electrocution at Gigafactory

The family of a worker who was electrocuted at a Tesla factory in Austin, Texas, earlier this month has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the electric vehicle manufacturer.

The estate of Victor Gomez Sr. claims that Tesla’s negligence caused the workplace death, which occurred on 1 August at the construction site of Tesla’s planned Gigafactory global headquarters.

Gomez, a licensed journeyman electrician employed by Belcan Services Group, was brought in to inspect the electrical panels at the site, according to the lawsuit, filed on 6 August in Travis County District Court.

The lawsuit said that the electrical panels were supposed to have been de-energised on the day of the incident, but that one of the panels was still energised.

Gomez was subsequently taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

The lawsuit said that the plaintiff’s attorney attempted to contact Tesla to perform an independent inspection of the property “before any evidence is repaired or altered in any way”, but that Tesla has thus far failed to respond to the request.

Gomez’s estate seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a temporary injunction granting the plaintiffs inspection access to the Tesla factory.

This article first appeared on our sister website Business Insurance. For further news from Business Insurance, please click here.