New
York: An Indian-American student and Tesla critic Randeep Hothi has sued
Elon Musk, claiming that the accusation made by the Tesla CEO that he “almost
killed” his factory employees is defamatory.
A doctoral
candidate in Asian languages and cultures at University of Michigan,Randeep Hothi has
created @skabooshka Twitter account where he fact-checked Elon Musk and Tesla’s “published
claims regarding the electric vehicle manufacturer’s automation, technology and
production processes.
According to Randeep Hothi’s lawyer, his client started fact-checking Tesla via a Twitter account “as a social experiment through crowd-sourcing information related to his social science doctorate work.”Beginning in 2018,Randeep Hothi,donning the role of a social activist, observed Tesla’s production at its Fremont, California-based factory.
“He also
documented construction of Tesla’s Model 3 assembly line tent, sharing photos
with his Twitter followers”.
Tesla also
apparently investigated Hothi from their end.
In 2019, Hothi
saw a Tesla-owned vehicle with roof-mounted cameras on the road that was
recording audio, video and data. “Hothi followed the vehicle, observed it,
photographed it and posted the photographs at Twitter. At no point did Hothi
either drive recklessly or endanger the safety of the occupants of the Tesla
vehicle,” the defamation lawsuit read.
A few days
later, Tesla filed a civil restraining order against Hothi claiming he
trespassed, stalked, harassed and endangered Tesla employees.
The harassment
case against Hothi was dropped by Tesla later.
But Musk
apparently had not let the dispute go, according to the report.
In an exchange
of emails with Aaron Greenspan, the owner of the litigation publishing website
PlainSite.org, Elon Musk said: “As for the people you mention below, they have
actively harassed, and in the case of Hothi, almost killed Tesla employees”.
“What was a
sideswipe when Randep Hothi hit one of our people could easily have been a death with
6 inches of difference,” the email further said, which has been cited in
Hothi’s lawsuit.
“As one of the
highest-profile and wealthiest individuals in the world, Elon Musk knew or should
have known his accusations concerning Randeep Hothi would be conveyed to a worldwide
audience and would result in the accusations receiving significant publicity,”
the lawsuit claimed.
Tesla or Musk
were yet to comment on the lawsuit.
According to Randeep Hothi’s bio on University of Michigan’s website, he is interested in how
minority communities specifically diasporic Sikhs – -creatively respond to
the world around them.
“My interest in
Sikh Studies is inspired by a real need to contribute knowledge to Sikh communities
while also contributing to academic debates in the in the humanities and social
scientists,”.
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