Tesla probes how subcontractor's worker was hurt in California plant

Tesla Motors Inc. said it is investigating how a worker from Slovenia was critically injured in a fall while on the job last year at the company’s plant in Fremont, Calif.

The Mercury News newspaper in San Jose, Calif., published an investigative story on Sunday, May 15, about the incident. 

The article said Gregor Lesnik fell nearly three stories on May 16, 2015, breaking both his legs and ribs, tearing ligaments in his knee and giving him a concussion.

Lesnik’s job was to lift heavy pipes and install them into the ceiling and through the roof of the plant’s paint shop, according to the article.

“At Tesla, we aspire to operate on the principles of hard work and exceptional performance, but always tempered by fairness, justice and kindness. There are times when mistakes are made, but those are the standards to which we hold ourselves. With respect to the person at the center of this weekend’s article in The Mercury News, those standards were not met.

“We are taking action to address this individual's situation and to put in place additional oversight to ensure that our workplace rules are followed even by sub-subcontractors to prevent such a thing from happening again,” the company posted on its website today.

The newspaper also reported that Lesnik worked 10-hour workdays and earned the equivalent of $5 an hour. Tesla said “if Mr. Lesnik or his colleagues were really being paid $5 an hour, that is totally unacceptable.”

In Tesla’s response, the company said Lesnik “was brought to the Tesla factory by a company called ISM Vuzem, a sub-contractor brought in by Eisenmann, the firm that we hired to construct our new, high-volume paint shop.

“Assuming the article is correct, we need to do right by Mr. Lesnik and his colleagues from Vuzem. This is not a legal issue, it is a moral issue. As far as the law goes, Tesla did everything correctly. We hired a contractor to do a turnkey project at our factory and, as we always do in these situations, contractually obligated our contractor to comply with all laws in bringing in the resources they felt were needed to do the job,” Tesla said.

Tesla said in its statement that state workplace inspectors went to the factory, investigated the incident and found that Tesla was not responsible. Tesla was also dismissed from a workers’ compensation case “because the judge concluded that Tesla had no legal responsibility for what occurred,” the company said.

Tesla said it “will be working with Eisenmann and Vuzem to investigate this thoroughly. If the claims are true, Tesla will take action to ensure that the right thing happens and all are treated fairly.”

The Mercury News’ report arrives at a crucial time for the electric car maker and its lineup. 

Earlier in May, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla plans to build 500,000 vehicles a year by 2018, despite the fact that the design of the Model 3, which figures to be an important cog in that goal, is not complete yet. The Model 3 is due in late 2017.

In a letter to shareholders, Tesla said it plans to produce between 80,000 to 90,000 new vehicles in 2016.

Tesla produced 15,510 vehicles during the first quarter of 2016, which included 12,851 Model S sedans and 2,659 Model X crossovers, both of which were initially delayed due to quality and supply issues.

On May 13, Tesla hired Volkswagen executive Peter Hochholdinger as vice president of vehicle production.

Early in May, Tesla’s vice president of production, Greg Reichow, and vice president of manufacturing, Josh Ensign, left the company.