Former Tesla worker says he was whistleblower, not saboteur

\"The data I was collecting was so severe, I had to go to the media,\" says Martin Tripp.

The former Tesla worker at the center of an industrial espionage lawsuit claims his actions were that of a whistleblower.

The company filed a lawsuit this week accusing former Gigafactory worker Martin Tripp of hacking its manufacturing operating system with code that regularly sent data to outside parties. He is also accused of making false allegations to the media.

"I am being singled out for being a whistleblower," Tripp said in a response to CNNMoney. "The data I was collecting was so severe, I had to go to the media."

Tripp appears to be the mystery worker described in a company-wide email from Tesla chief Elon Musk. The executive claimed a worker had been involved in "extensive and damaging sabotage," though the company has not explained how the alleged saboteur actually disrupted manufacturing operations.

Tripp insists Tesla had been installing damaged battery modules in Model 3 cars that were shipped to customers. The company has denied the allegation.

There is more, but the actions of a few bad apples will not stop Tesla from reaching its goals. With 40,000 people, the worst 1 in 1000 will have issues. That's still ~40 people.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 20, 2018