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A Florida judge found “reasonable evidence” that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and other managers knew the automaker’s vehicles had a faulty Autopilot system, but allowed the cars to operate unsafely, according to the ruling.
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According to Reuters Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Reed Scott ruled last week that plaintiffs in a product liability lawsuit against Tesla can sue and seek punitive damages against the company for willful misconduct and gross negligence. Information about the order was not given earlier.
The decision is a blow to Tesla as the company won two product liability trials in California earlier this year over its Autopilot driver assistance system. A Tesla spokesman could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The Florida lawsuit follows a 2019 crash north of Miami in which owner Stephen Banner’s Model 3 18-wheeler rolled under the trailer of a big-rig truck that veered off the road, tearing off the Tesla’s roof and killing Banner. The case was supposed to go to trial in October, but was delayed and has not been rescheduled.
Scott found that the plaintiff, Benner’s wife, should have been able to argue to jurors that the warnings in Tesla’s manuals and the “clickwrap” agreement were inadequate.
The judge also said the crash was similar to a 2016 fatal crash involving Joshua Brown, in which the Autopilot system failed to detect a crossing truck, causing the vehicle to go under a tractor trailer at high speed.
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