 Martin Tripp, an ex-Tesla technician the company has accused of hacking and sabotage, has now countersued his former employer and claimed that Tesla defamed him. His filing says he "was even told by one colleague that the colleague, after seeing damaged products being reused, intentionally further damaged the parts to prevent them from being used in a Model 3." Tripp also claims that punctured battery cells were reworked with glue and put back on the manufacturing line: "Based upon information and belief, no quality inspections were performed on these 'reworked' battery modules before they were returned to the manufacturing processing line. Mr. Tripp was told by the process technicians and associates that when the robot had picked up a battery module, the teach pin, which had become "unthreaded" and "longer," struck the clamshell (i.e., the outer plastic coating) of the battery module, causing a dent and/or puncture. Tripp fought back, telling reporters that he was not a saboteur, but a whistleblower who had leaked information to a reporter for Business Insider out of environmental and safety concerns. In yet another bizarre turn in this twisted tale, in the immediate wake of the June 2018 lawsuit filed against Tripp, a woman at the Gigafactory said she received a call from an anonymous caller claiming that Tripp had threatened to "shoot the place up." The local sheriff’s department announced that “there was no credible threat” the next day. William Fischbach, one of the attorneys representing Tripp, said Tuesday: “Tesla has made several false and defamatory statements about Mr Tripp in an effort to discredit him before the general public.” 
 
 Another attorney for Tripp, Robert D Mitchell, added: “There were very suspicious, very contradictory stories that were advanced by Tesla. "By filing its lawsuit against Mr. Tripp, Tesla has now forced the issues to the forefront, and Mr. Tripp looks forward to defending himself before a jury of his peers by showing that what he witnessed and repeatedly reported at Tesla is, in fact, true." We’re going to be interested in getting to the bottom of how the story was concocted.” 
 
 Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. That same day, a Design Engineer asked Mr. Tripp to "clean up" the stator production line area so Mr. Musk would not see the mounds of scrap and waste lying on the ground. The diver said he was considering legal action, and Musk eventually apologized. Even more strangely, the lawsuit continues, during the sheriff's investigation, Tesla "appeared to know exactly where Mr. Tripp was located the majority of the time and, after being asked by the investigating deputies how it was aware of such information, [Tesla] simply replied ‘little birds sing.’" 
 
 Tesla did not immediately respond to Ars' request for comment. "This ordeal, which, inter alia, implied that Mr. Tripp was a danger to those around him, was highly embarrassing and distressing to Mr. Tripp," Tripp claims in the filing. In a new lawsuit filed Tuesday by his new Arizona-based legal team, Tripp more fully explained his concerns. However, to date, Tesla has not brought any cases against any further alleged saboteurs. The suit also addresses a series of tweets that Musk sent about the Business Insider reporter, Linette Lopez, to whom Tripp had leaked information. The countersuit comes at a sensitive time for Tesla, which is under intense pressure from investors to prove that it can mass-produce its electric vehicles and turn a profit.
– The technician accused of stealing data from Tesla's battery factory in Nevada is countersuing his former employer and CEO Elon Musk for defamation. "Tesla has made several false and defamatory statements about [Martin] Tripp in an effort to discredit him," a lawyer says. The Guardian specifically mentions Musk claiming on June 20 that Tesla "received a call at the Gigafactory that he was going to come back and shoot people." Per CNBC, a Tesla rep added "a friend of Mr. Tripp" claimed he would "shoot the place up." Tripp—who's painted himself as a whistleblower concerned by Tesla's "dangerous" practices, including alleged use of punctured battery cells repaired with glue, per Business Insider—described the claim as "insane." A day later, the local sheriff's department announced "there was no credible threat." That's because there was no phone call, and if there had been, Tesla acted with "at least negligence" in publicizing the information before investigating, reads Tripp's lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Nevada, per Ars Technica. It further notes Tesla seemed to know Tripp's location during the law enforcement investigation and "provided false information" to authorities when claiming it could "verify" the 40-year-old was "armed." "We're … interested in getting to the bottom of how the story was concocted," a lawyer for Tripp tells the Guardian. Tripp, who denies Tesla's claim that he wrote software used to lift data from factory computers (he says he can't even code), is seeking at least $1 million plus punitive damages for alleged defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. His lawsuit notes he's received "numerous threats" to his safety.