Tesla has settled a wrongful death case with the estate of a man who was killed in a crash involving one of the company’s electric vehicles (EVs).
Elon Musk’s EV company reached an agreement with the estate of Clyde Leach and his wife Donna Leach to dismiss the lawsuit, according to a court filing Monday. The filing did not disclose the details of the settlement.
Leach died in 2021 when his Tesla Model Y “suddenly accelerated forward,” driving off the road and into a nearby gas station, according to the initial complaint. The collision caused an “uncontrollable fire” that consumed the vehicle “within seconds.”
Leach’s estate argued Tesla was aware of situations in which its vehicles suddenly accelerated and had released several safety features, including automatic emergency braking and a system to distinguish unintentional pedal movements.
“In response to receiving notice of these incidents, Tesla misrepresented that it had designed systems which would prevent these foreseeably dangerous situations and that ‘[t]here is no ‘unintended acceleration’ in Tesla vehicles,’” the complaint reads.
The estate contended that if these features were working properly, they could have prevented or mitigated the crash that ultimately killed Leach.
It also pointed to claims Tesla previously made about the safety and structure of its vehicles, suggesting Leach’s vehicle should not have suffered such severe damage in the crash.
Tesla argued in court filings that the accident was the result of Leach’s “improper and unsafe operation” of its vehicle, and that Tesla’s instructions and warnings were “robust and adequate.”
The company did not respond to a request for comment about the settlement.
It comes just one day before Tesla is set to report its quarterly earnings, a highly anticipated event amid recent turmoil surrounding Musk’s company.
Tesla has seen its stock price plummet in recent months, tumbling 36 percent since the start of the year and nearly 50 percent since December.
The EV maker has struggled as Musk has taken on a prominent role in the Trump administration, leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The DOGE push has sought to slash trillions of dollars in government spending, including by cutting tens of thousands of federal workers.
Tesla has been at the center of the pushback surrounding Musk and DOGE, facing peaceful protests as well as violent demonstrations.
