image source, christina baran
- author, Zoe Kleinman
- role, Technology editor
A Tesla whistleblower who has been fighting Elon Musk and his company in court for a decade has told BBC News that he still wants a public apology.
No other interview about a tech giant has made me cry.
But near the end of the Zoom call, former Tesla engineer Christina Baran dramatically removed her wig, revealing that she had just finished treatment for breast cancer and was now fighting for both her life and reputation as a single mother. I can’t help but feel how she feels when she tearfully tells me that she’s working hard.
“I want to clear my name. I wish I had the decency to apologize to Elon Musk,” was her message to the company’s billionaire boss.
Mr. Balan had been waiting for a long time.
Until 2014, she was a rising star at the American electric car company.
In honor of her engineering expertise, Ms. Baran’s initials were engraved on all early Tesla Model S batteries. And she proudly shows off her battery shell to the camera.
Baran recalled chatting with Musk in the lunch line at the company cafeteria and said that growing up in Romania with a lifelong passion for cars made him happy, successful and able to realize his dreams.
However, she lost her job in 2014 after raising concerns about the safety of Tesla cars’ brakes.
But Tesla later claimed in a lengthy media statement that it had used company time and resources on top-secret personal projects, amounting to embezzlement, which is a crime in the United States.
Mr. Baran strongly denies that.
Tesla has not disclosed any details of the incident to herself or publicly, she said.
The company did not respond to BBC News’ requests for information.
Baran sued Tesla for defamation.
Her stage 3B breast cancer is currently in remission, but her biggest fear is that she may not live to see her final day in court.
Ultimately, Baran says he has pursued the case so persistently for so long because he wants to prove his innocence to his son.
“I’m his hero,” she says.
“I’m a mom who builds airplanes and cars.”
And she doesn’t want him to grow up believing his mother was a thief.
image source, christina baran
Baran told BBC News about various interactions between himself and Tesla while working at the company.
“Everything went awry when I realized they were hiding some serious safety issues,” she claims.
Mr Baran said he had received complaints from customers concerned about the carpet curling up under some pedals – a simple but potentially fatal design flaw.
“If you can’t hit the brakes, someone other than the Tesla could get hurt,” she says.
“All they had to do was say, ‘We know the carpet is bad, please take it out of the car.'”
But Baran claims her managers dismissed her concerns and became hostile.
So she sent an email to Musk, who directly encouraged employees to go directly to him with any concerns that could affect Tesla’s reputation.
“I sent him two emails,” Baran said.
“I sent him an email before I left. [of Tesla]tell him that we are all threatened.
“I was thinking in my head, ‘He still wants to do what’s right for Tesla.'”
But that failed, and Baran continued to lose his job.
BBC News referred her allegations to Tesla, but received no response.
“Safety is the most important part of every Tesla,” the company’s website states.
“We design our vehicles to exceed safety standards.”
Another Tesla whistleblower, Lukasz Krupski, told a similar unrelated experience after emailing Musk about his concerns about working conditions at Tesla’s Norwegian headquarters.
And Baran said other Tesla employees may also be “afraid to speak out.”
Her case will ultimately be heard by California’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, but a date has not yet been set.
Balan says this is her only chance to prove herself professionally.
“I don’t want to give up on my career,” she says.
“And I also know that if I don’t win this, it doesn’t matter how good I am.
“Everyone will pay attention to what they say about Tesla.” [me]and my career was over.
Although Musk’s leadership style is famously unconventional, some who have worked for him say he has been successful.
Dolly Singh, who worked for Musk at SpaceX from 2008 to 2013, previously told BBC News that Musk is an “incredible leader.”
“Otherwise, he wouldn’t have accomplished what he is now in 2022,” she said.
“Yes, working under Elon is tiring.
“But I think this is a unique testing ground.”
Gordon Schnell, a U.S. attorney with Constantine Cannon, says more workers in the technology industry are becoming whistleblowers.
The stakes are very high, he says, because high-tech products “have such a far-reaching impact on the world.”
“It really affects all of our lives,” he says.
But Schnell, who specializes in representing whistleblowers, advises that you consider all your options before going public with your allegations.
“There are a number of protected channels available to whistleblowers in various industries where they can take sensitive concerns to the appropriate government agency best suited to address them,” he said. says.
Additional reporting by Philippa Wayne
