Tesla and Musk sued by shareholders over self-driving safety claims | CNN Business

Reuters
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Tesla ( TSLA ) and its chief executive Elon Musk were sued Monday by shareholders who accused them of exaggerating the effectiveness and safety of its electric vehicles’ autopilot and fully self-driving technologies.

In a proposed class action filed in federal court in San Francisco, shareholders said Tesla defrauded them for four years with false and misleading statements that hid how its technologies, suspected of being a possible cause of multiple fatal accidents , “created a serious risk of accidents and injuries”. .”

They said Tesla’s stock price fell several times as the truth came out, even after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating the technologies and reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission and Borsa was investigating Musk’s Autopilot claims.

The stock price also fell 5.7% on Feb. 16 after NHTSA ordered a recall of more than 362,000 Tesla vehicles equipped with full self-driving beta software because they could be unsafe at intersections.

Tesla has said it accepted the recall, even though it disagreed with NHTSA’s analysis.

“As a result of the defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions and the precipitous decline in the market value of the company’s common stock, the plaintiff and other class members have suffered substantial losses and damages,” the complaint said .

Tesla, which does not have a media relations department, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Monday’s lawsuit, led by shareholder Thomas Lamontagne, seeks unspecified damages for Tesla shareholders from Feb. 19, 2019, to Feb. 17, 2023. Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn and his predecessor Deepak Ahuja are also defendants.

Tesla’s stock price closed Monday up $10.75, or 5.5%, at $207.63, but the stock has lost about half its value since peaking on November 2021.

Musk at Tesla’s investor day on March 1 is expected to tout the company’s artificial intelligence capability and plans to expand its vehicle lineup.

The case is Lamontagne v. Tesla Inc et al, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 23-00869.