Lawsuit says FANUC robot arm knocked out Tesla technician in Fremont

What happened

According to the complaint, as reported by Manufacturing Dive, the plaintiff was a robotics technician at Tesla’s Fremont factory. On July 22, 2023, he was helping a Tesla engineer take apart a FANUC industrial robot. The engineer was trying to remove a motor at the base of the robot to reach its internal cabling when the arm suddenly released.

The lawsuit alleges the arm hit the technician with force that came both from the arm and from a counterbalance weight of roughly 8,000 pounds, threw him to the floor and left him unconscious. It also alleges the robot had been moved to an area that was not designated for such equipment.

The system involved

The machine was a FANUC industrial robot arm fitted with a heavy counterbalance. The model has not been reported. On the complaint’s account the robot was not running a production program; it was being dismantled, and the alleged hazard was the uncontrolled release of stored mechanical energy in the arm and counterbalance.

Investigation and response

According to Manufacturing Dive, the complaint was first filed in Alameda County Superior Court in July 2025 and was moved to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on September 19, 2025. It seeks $51 million, including about $1 million in medical costs to date, and brings negligence claims against Tesla and FANUC. It alleges that Tesla did not make sure the robot was safely secured before the work, that FANUC’s design and instructions were deficient, that Tesla introduced new rigging and safety procedures for the robot afterward, and that Tesla holds video of the event that it has not shared.

Tesla’s lawyers moved to dismiss, arguing that the exclusive remedy provision of California’s workers’ compensation law bars the claims. Manufacturing Dive reported that Tesla, FANUC and the plaintiff’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. No ruling on the motion was found.

What is not established

All details of the event come from the plaintiff’s complaint and have not been established by a court or regulator. Whether Cal/OSHA investigated is not known. Reports differ on when and where the complaint was first filed. The current status of the case, including any ruling on Tesla’s motion to dismiss, was not verified for this entry.