Tesla faces lawsuit from ex-manager over FSD safety concerns

Javier Medrano, a former Tesla manager, has filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Houston alleging systemic safety deficiencies within the company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) testing operations. Medrano, who managed the FSD operational test fleet in Houston from October 2024 until his termination on May 1, 2025, described the test vehicles as “rolling hazards” on public roads.

The lawsuit claims that Tesla violated whistleblower protection laws after Medrano repeatedly raised concerns regarding safety oversight. According to the legal filings, the number of supervised safety drivers increased from 15 to 38, exceeding internal company guidelines and leading to operational overload. Medrano alleges these conditions contributed to an incident in March 2025.

Concurrently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has expanded its investigation into Tesla’s FSD system. The regulatory agency is specifically examining whether the technology reliably detects and provides warnings during conditions of limited visibility, such as fog, glare, and dust, following nine reported accidents.