Tesla’s lawsuit against Rivian takes crazy turn

Tesla’s lawsuit against Rivian, alleging the competing automaker of stealing trade secrets, has taken a crazy turn.

A tentative ruling issued by Judge Theodore C. Zayner of the Santa Clara County Superior Court denied Rivian’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit after the EV maker requested to have it thrown out.

However, Judge Zayner said Tesla presented sufficient evidence to have a legitimate case against Rivian, and after four years of the legal process taking its time, the two companies will head to court.

“Tesla’s evidence establishes that some Rivian employees were less thoroughly investigated and not disciplined,” Judge Zayner wrote in the tentative order, according to Reuters.

Back in 2020, Tesla filed a lawsuit against Rivian after the company noticed an “alarming pattern” of poaching employees. CEO Elon Musk said in an interview with Automotive News after being asked if Rivian was poaching workers:

“Yeah, absolutely. Of course. I mean it’s not like a massive percentage, but they’ve definitely taken a bunch of Tesla’s intellectual property…It’s not cool to steal our IP, and for people to violate their confidentiality agreements…that kind of thing . They’re doing bad things, so we sued them.”

Tesla’s Elon Musk talks Rivian lawsuit, “They’re doing bad things, so we sued them”

An initial complaint filed by Tesla claimed that a former Senior Staffing Manager for Tesla, Tami Pascale, “took at least ten confidential and proprietary documents from Tesla’s network, which would allow Rivian to poach Tesla’s highest-performing talent and promising employment prospects.”

Rivian denied the allegations, but it appears Tesla has enough evidence to push the case forward. A final hearing is set for today.

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