Tesla sued over Houston self‑driving safety concerns as former manager files lawsuit

Javier Medrano, who managed Tesla’s Full Self‑Driving (FSD) test fleet in Houston, filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging that the company expanded its autonomous‑vehicle program without providing adequate safety oversight. The complaint says the fleet grew to 38 vehicles operating around the clock while Medrano remained the sole operational manager, creating a “dangerous 38:1 operator‑to‑manager ratio” that far exceeds Tesla’s internal safety guideline of 15:1.

Medrano asserts that the understaffing forced test drivers to work 60‑80 hours per week on call, leading to extreme fatigue. He describes a March 30, 2025 incident in which an autonomous test vehicle struck a member of the public while he, exhausted, was handling the emergency call. The lawsuit claims Tesla retaliated against him for raising these concerns, firing him on May 1, 2025 and stripping a pending stock award. The filing seeks damages and injunctive relief, highlighting systemic safety failures in the company’s rollout of its robotaxi service in Houston and Dallas.