Tesla's bid to get a federal judge to recuse himself from a case involving the company on the grounds of a conflict of interest failed after he denied the request.
What happened?
Judge P. Casey Pitts of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California rejected the automaker's attempt to get Pitts to disqualify himself from a lawsuit regarding a Tesla with an allegedly faulty braking system.
Plaintiff Sylvia Jackson sued Tesla after a Model 3 rammed into her as she was loading bags into her car at a grocery store parking lot in Maryland, Bloomberg Law reported. According to Jackson, the Tesla stopped behind her before suddenly accelerating and pinning her between the vehicles.
Jackson blamed the failure of three safety features, including the automatic emergency braking system, for her injuries, which resulted in the amputation of both of her legs.
Tesla asked Pitts to remove himself from the case as a former partner at Altshuler Berzon LLP. While the firm represented two Tesla employees in discrimination lawsuits against the company, Pitts had no involvement, and his time at Altshuler Berzon was already "public knowledge" when Jackson's case was transferred to him in 2023.
"Tesla … waited nearly seventeen months to file this motion," Pitts said. "For judges who worked for firms much larger than Altshuler Berzon LLP that represent hundreds or thousands of clients at a time, the scope of this recusal obligation would be enormous, substantially disrupting the courts' ability to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive resolution of court proceedings."
Pitts also denied Tesla's second request to have the case transferred to Maryland. He argued that the original location was largely irrelevant "because this case concerns an alleged defect in Tesla's product, rather than a claim of negligence against the driver," and California is where Tesla designs, engineers, manufactures, and updates the Model 3.
Why is this case concerning?
This particular case comes amid a tumultuous period for the company. Tesla's year-over-year global sales have plummeted by nearly 50% in Europe, with some markets showing even steeper declines.
Though CEO Elon Musk's controversial behavior and role in U.S. politics may be to blame, the company's issues with vehicle safety might also be at fault.
Tesla has recalled the Cybertruck eight times for various problems since its release one-and-a-half years ago. Meanwhile, about a quarter of 2020 Model 3s failed safety inspections in Denmark last year.
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