The family of a worker who was electrocuted at a Tesla Inc. factory in Austin, Texas, earlier this month has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the electric vehicle manufacturer.
The estate of Victor Gomez Sr. claims that Tesla’s negligence caused the workplace death, which occurred on Aug. 1 at the construction site of Tesla’s planned Gigafactory global headquarters.
Mr. Gomez, a licensed journeyman electrician employed by Belcan Services Group LTD, was brought in to inspect the electrical panels at the site, according to the lawsuit, filed Aug. 6 in Travis County District Court.
The lawsuit says that the electrical panels were supposed to have been de-energized on the day of the incident, but that one of the panels was still energized.
Mr. Gomez was subsequently taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
The lawsuit says that the plaintiffs attorney attempted to contact Tesla to perform an independent inspection of the property “before any evidence is repaired or altered in any way,” but that Tesla has thus far failed to respond to the request.
Mr. Gomez’s estate seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a temporary injunction granting the plaintiffs inspection access to the Tesla factory.
