Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announces a new all-wheel drive version of the Model S vehicle in Hawthorne, California on October 9, 2014.
Lucy Nicholson | Reuters
A lawyer for Tesla asked a law firm to fire one of its attorneys or risk losing his job to the electric car maker due to Elon Musk, The Wall Street Journal report Saturday.
The lawyer Tesla wants Cooley LLP to fire previously worked at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Attorneys interviewed Musk during the agency’s investigation into the Tesla CEO’s 2018 claim that he received funding to take Tesla private, according to the publication. Investigation lead to a settlement whereby Musk and Tesla agreed to pay a fine of $ 20 million each and Musk agreed to step down as Tesla chairman for 3 years.
Tesla’s attorneys late last year asked Cooley to fire attorneys who worked on the SEC investigation, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The company did not remove the associate.
Tesla has moved to replace Cooley or hire additional attorneys in some cases since December, according to the Journal.
Musk’s rocket company SpaceX has also stopped cooperating with the law firm on legal matters, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Tesla has a separate relationship with the SEC. The company that hired David Misler, a former probationary attorney for the agency, as a management consultant.
Musk has come into conflict with more regulators than the SEC. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has investigated whether Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance system is at least partially responsible for crashes in which Tesla vehicles crash into first responders. the fairy is passing or not.
The agency appointed Missy Cummings – a Duke University professor, automated systems expert, former Navy fighter pilot and Tesla critic – as a consultant on the poll. In October, Musk tweeted that “her tracking record is extremely biased towards Tesla”, sparking a wave of outcry among his followers.
NHTSA then asked Cummings to repurpose himself from Tesla-specific problems, the Journal reported on Saturday.
Tesla, SpaceX and Cooley did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Read the full Journal report here.
– Lora Kolodny of CNBC contributed to this report
EDIT: This story has been updated to show that Musk and Tesla each agreed to pay a $20 million fine and Musk agreed to step down temporarily as chairman of Tesla. “
