Tesla whistleblower says the electric car maker's staffed with former members of Uber that allegedly spied on rivals
“Several” employees in Tesla’s security department – including the company’s head of security – were previously a part of a similar team at Uber that allegedly stole data from rivals, hacked into their computer systems, and recorded their private conversations, according to a former employee of the electric-vehicle company who filed a whistleblower tip earlier this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
At Tesla, those employees were part of a group that spied on employees’ personal cell-phone communications and hid from shareholders a theft of raw materials and a drug trafficking ring at the company’s battery factory in Nevada, Karl Hansen, a former member of Tesla’s security team, alleged in the tip, according to a statement put out Thursday by his lawyer.
“The security personnel accused of engaging in these tactics at Uber were hired by Tesla this year despite the revelation of a purported investigation by the US Attorney’s Office in San Francisco … [into] the actions related to the Uber security team,” Meissner Associates, the law firm representing Hansen, said in the statement.
