Tesla Whistleblower Martin Tripp Ordered To Pay $400,000 To Settle Hacking Case (theverge.com) 60
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Martin Tripp, the former Tesla worker who has been embroiled in a bitter legal battle with CEO Elon Musk for over two years, was ordered to pay his former employer $400,000 after admitting to leaking confidential information to a reporter. The settlement is intended to bring an end to one of the more sordid stories at Tesla, in which Tripp, a former process technician, locked horns with the billionaire CEO over allegations that Tesla was wasting a "jaw-dropping" amount of raw material as it ramped up production of the Model 3 sedan.
Musk later accused Tripp of "sabotage" and personally ordered investigators to hack Tripp's phone and spy on his messages. Tesla even misled local police about a potential mass shooting by Tripp at the company's Nevada factory. But in the end, Tripp came out on the losing side. The payment is part of a proposed settlement to a lawsuit filed by Tesla in 2018 alleging that Tripp hacked the electric car company's system and transferred "gigabytes" of data to third parties. As part of the agreement, Tripp admitted to violating laws related to trade secrets and computer crimes when he told a Business Insider reporter that Tesla was wasting a significant amount of raw materials during production of its Model 3. Tripp also agreed to pay $25,000 to Tesla for continuing to reveal information about the company, despite being ordered to stop by a judge.
Musk later accused Tripp of "sabotage" and personally ordered investigators to hack Tripp's phone and spy on his messages. Tesla even misled local police about a potential mass shooting by Tripp at the company's Nevada factory. But in the end, Tripp came out on the losing side. The payment is part of a proposed settlement to a lawsuit filed by Tesla in 2018 alleging that Tripp hacked the electric car company's system and transferred "gigabytes" of data to third parties. As part of the agreement, Tripp admitted to violating laws related to trade secrets and computer crimes when he told a Business Insider reporter that Tesla was wasting a significant amount of raw materials during production of its Model 3. Tripp also agreed to pay $25,000 to Tesla for continuing to reveal information about the company, despite being ordered to stop by a judge.
Re: Bwahah (Score:1)
Yeah everyone is racist, everyone got people killed, everybody kicks little puppies and reminds orphans that they have no parents. Boo hoo hoo hoo.
Still better Biden, than a shitbird like Trump who literally wants to shred the constitution (stop teh votez!), and get us closer to being a fascist state.
Biden won, Biden will be prez, poo pooing changes nothing.
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Does bankruptcy clear this? (Score:5, Interesting)
There is no way this guy have $400k (he was a technician) so there is no way Tesla will get the money.
So what happens? Will Mr. Tripp go bankrupt and then the debt is wiped away? Or will Tesla garnish a fraction of his wages until the end of time?
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The fact that he entered into this settlement willfully, means he probably has the means to do so.
He has been selling photos, he took several gigabytes of information which could be valuable to a lot of other manufacturers and his claim was supposedly funded by Tesla short sellers.
Re:Does bankruptcy clear this? (Score:5, Interesting)
There is this "Tesla even misled local police about a potential mass shooting by Tripp at the company's Nevada factory", that is swatting, a criminal offence, did Tesla intend for the police to kill him, that is the modern legal interpretation, even when they go to the wrong address. Was Tesla's intent, the individuals at Tesla, the intent that police make a special weapons and tactics squad raid on their chosen victim and shoot them. That is the way it is viewed now, in the current interpretation of law. Not slander, intent to cause bodily harm, a violent raid.
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Re:Does bankruptcy clear this? (Score:5, Interesting)
The potential mass shooting rumor was an anonymous tip, called in by wtf knows, and reported by Tripp as possibly generated by Musk himself. Unlikely in the extreme, of course, but wonderful fodder for the conspiracy-minded.
Tripp was and is a nobody, trying desperately to be somebody. The likelihood Musk would involve himself in soap opera drama such as this is on the order of a settlement on Mars in my lifetime.
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Re:Does bankruptcy clear this? (Score:5, Interesting)
You do realize that these claims have now been examined by a court of law and found to be without merit, right?
Tripp is not a whistleblower. He has no open whistleblower case after his own attorney in the case abandoned him. He also claimed to be a whistleblower in this lawsuit, and lost. He counteredsued Tesla over the police incident and Tesla's statements about it. He lost all of his counterclaims.
He is not a whistleblower and he was not "swatted". Period. Full stop.
Tesla received a phone call from an anonymous tipster. There's a full email chain in the court records documenting every step, from the callers concern to Tesla execs freaking out over the notion that an armed disgruntled employee might be on his way and how they have no resources of their own that could deal with that sort of threat. There's employee records of Tripp showing him as frequently angry. He had just threatened Musk personally that morning. His scribd page had only four documents on it, and one of them was an gun pamphlet from the NRA.
And things have just piled up against him ever since. Tripp's own stepson testified that he believes the tip, as his stepfather was frequently violent to him. And this whole case has been Tripp constantly digging himself deeper and deeper into problems by pursuing one petty vendetta after the next.
Anyone who describes Tripp as a "whistleblower" or "swatted" is saying that the court system and all of the evidence filed is lying.
Re:Does bankruptcy clear this? (Score:4, Informative)
Hell, even during the court case, he continued making direct threats to Tesla's legal team and Musk, including, and I quote, "Here is a threat for you: if I ever see you, there is not a bodyguard in the world that will keep me from teaching you a lesson on fucking with the wrong people. I'm done with your dumbass."
(Oh, and for those who care - Tripp's stepson's testimony was Zalduendo Decl. Ex. 13. Tripp's testimony about his extensive background with firearms is Ex. 14, 47:16-52:25)
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This is the first time I've heard actual details from the court records, rather than "news" reporting.
There is very little "news" reported these days. The "news" corporations* no longer report facts; instead they sensationalise events, mostly with their own (nefariously and intentionally) subjective agendas hidden within.
The sad part is that this case is already rife with drama - it would have been better to report the facts rather than spinning them.
Thank you for providing some context and explanatory det
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The likelihood Musk would involve himself in soap opera drama such as this is on the order of a settlement on Mars in my lifetime.
I would have said the same thing before Musk dropped his pedo comment. Now... not so much.
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~rmdingler
The likelihood Musk would involve himself in soap opera drama such as this is on the order of a settlement on Mars in my lifetime.
Likelihood: Mars is populated by canal submariners making battle with the pederasts General Motors cowardly equipped with calcium carbide lamps.
Attempt all landings there.
Re:Does bankruptcy clear this? (Score:5, Interesting)
The "anonymous tip" (ostensibly from one of Tripp's female friends) was reported by Sean Gouthro, head of security at Tesla at the time. Gouthro later made a whistle-blower claim with the SEC against Tesla asserting, among other things, that the Tripp fiasco was fabricated at Musk's behest.
Of course this isn't an airtight case (I cannot find follow-up on the whisterblower claim either way), but your omission is flagrant. The evidence as it stands suggests, at the very least, the possibility. As other comments have noted, Musk absolutely invokes soap opera drama on a regular basis.
Security is an industry which values loyalty. I doubt that an established professional would make such a claim lightly.
Re:Does bankruptcy clear this? (Score:4, Insightful)
The likelihood Musk would involve himself in soap opera drama such as this is on the order of a settlement on Mars in my lifetime.
Yeah, it's not like Musk would get himself into soap opera dramas like legal proceedings over some spat about calling a guy a pedo on twitter, or being all "look how cool I am smoking weed" and then getting in shit with the business people, or naming his kid some random fucking string of characters, or public spats with his pop star girlfriend that's half his age, or.... well, you get the picture.
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If he is in the SF Bay Area and owns his own house, he could probably raise the money by re-mortgaging it.
Re: Does bankruptcy clear this? (Score:1)
Sometimes everybody involved sucks. (Score:4, Interesting)
Clearly, this is one of those times. If your employer is having problems ramping up production of a new product, giving inside information about the problems its having doesn't make you a whistleblower unless laws are being broken or people are being defrauded.
On the other hand, SWATing a troublesome employee is so far beyond the pale I can't quite get my brain around it.
If I had to side with one or the other, I'd side with Tripp, simply because when someone with Musk's power and wealth misbehaves it a grave danger to the rule of law. But predictably it's the little guy who pays for his bad behavior.
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Musk was convicted of securities fraud and given a slap on the wrist by the SEC. Twenty years ago it would have meant a stiff prison sentence (Koslowski, Skilling, et al).
There is no rule of law any more for corporate malfeasance if you are of sufficient wealth. Just as Mr. Trump said he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th ave and get away with it, Musk is in the same boat. He can literally get away with anything he wants from here on out. (And if I was Karl Hansen I'd be very careful https://tslaq [tslaq.org]
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Musk was neither charged with nor convicted of securities fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission did issue a civil fine against him that he paid. That is very different from facing criminal charges.
Now you can make a good argument that he should have faced criminal charges, but don't make stuff up and say that's what happened.
Re:Sometimes everybody involved sucks. (Score:5, Informative)
No opinion on the ac's post but he was right about securities fraud: https://www.sec.gov/news/press... [sec.gov]
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He was charged with it but settled.
That is to say, even Musk had to plea bargain for his freedom.
The idea that being rich is enough to avoid all danger of prosecution is misguided. You also have to be somebody, or make a deal with a devil (usually in government.)
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The idea that being rich is enough to avoid all danger of prosecution is misguided. You also have to be somebody, or make a deal with a devil (usually in government.)
Or just be rich enough to pay off whatever fines without even blinking.
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Thanks for the correction.
Re:Sometimes everybody involved sucks. (Score:5, Informative)
Musk was convicted of securities fraud and given a slap on the wrist by the SEC.
He paid 20 million dollar fine for one (admittedly very stupid) twit. I wouldn't call it a "slap on the wrist".
For comparison, Kozlowski has been defrauding his investors for years by giving himself interest-free loans and then forgiving them.
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Musk was convicted of securities fraud and given a slap on the wrist by the SEC.
He paid 20 million dollar fine for one (admittedly very stupid) twit. I wouldn't call it a "slap on the wrist"..
He's the second richest person on the planet, worth over 100 billion dollars. That's a slap on the wrist. That's pocket change to him.
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>"On the other hand, SWATing a troublesome employee is so far beyond the pale I can't quite get my brain around it. If I had to side with one or the other, I'd side with Tripp"
Based on zero evidence and nothing but speculation by someone who has everything to gain by pointing a finger at Musk?. Vs. evidence and ADMISSION OF GUILT by Tripp of wrong-doing against Tesla AND of defying a judge's order?
I agree there is nothing "whistlebower" about this. But, otherwise, I question your logic.
remember kids. free speech is like santa claus (Score:2, Interesting)
if you are a billionaire, like elon musk, you can accuse people of pedophilia and spread lies about covid19 and get away with it.
if you say that a billionaire, like elon musk, is wasting money, then he will destroy your entire life.
i know we teach people in school that free speech is an important value. but its not really anymore because it makes rich people upset.
elon's buddy peter thiel destroyed an entire website because they made fun of his wedding.
Re:remember kids. free speech is like santa claus (Score:5, Insightful)
if you are a billionaire, like elon musk, you can accuse people of pedophilia and spread lies about covid19 and get away with it.
Lots of people get away with saying stupid things on Twitter. You don't need to be a billionaire. If anything, the fact that Musk is a billionaire makes it harder for him to get away with it, because people actually scrutinize what he says.
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How is this different, from say, the local drunkard who would brawl with anyone who "looks at his girlfriend"? It seems that anyone can be a jerk without being a billionaire first.
Not a whistleblower (Score:5, Insightful)
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Knowingly installing damaged batteries in brand new cars would be illegal.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/08... [techcrunch.com]
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Dunno about his other doings and claims, but "Telsa installs damaged batteries in brand new cars would be illegal" is not IP - that is a safety issue that should firmly be covered under whistleblower protection.
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The whole problem is that it was never proved.
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Exactly.
This is a "You keep using that word . . ." situation . . .
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Considering that Musk's Model S is somewhere in space, it's going to be quite a feat.
That's a trip... (Score:1)
That's a trip, for Tripp although it has cost him plenty.
Is this real? (Score:2)
Why is gigabytes in fucking quotes?! As if it's not a real word or something.
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That's would be a quote from the lawsuit filing. That's how I read it anyway.
Terrible language in TFA (Score:4, Insightful)
The verge article says two contradictory things:
1. Tripp WAS ordered to pay 400k.
2. The 400k is part of a PROPOSED settlement.
So which is true? Is Tripp actually being forced to pay $400k, or is this a proposed settlement amount?
Who gave the verge info on a settlement amount before the settlement has even occurred, and why is the verge reporting like it already happened?