Ex-Tesla manager: Houston FSD test team became "rolling hazards" from understaffing — lawsuit
A former Tesla manager who ran the company's Houston FSD test fleet alone has sued in federal court, alleging Tesla blew past its own 1-to-15 supervisor ratio to scale to 38 vehicles, turning them into "rolling hazards on public streets" — raising safety-oversight questions just as Tesla keeps expanding its unsupervised Robotaxi service.
Javier Medrano joined Tesla in October 2023 and, within eight months, became the sole operations manager for Tesla's Houston FSD testing market. According to his complaint, Tesla's Autopilot director set a baseline of one supervisor per 15 test vehicles in late May 2024, but then pushed a ramp-up that scaled the Houston fleet to 38 vehicles running a 24-hour testing cycle.
Medrano was left managing that scale alone, far exceeding the company's own safety ratio. FSD test managers are supposed to audit driving footage, conduct weekly ride-alongs, and follow up on safety incidents — duties the complaint says became impossible to keep up with.
He reported to HR what he called an "ongoing extreme... safety oversight hazard" on Houston's public roads and the severe understaffing, but the complaint says an HR representative responded by suggesting he put his phone on "Do Not Disturb" during testing shifts. Two team leads were later flown in from Dallas to help, but a stock award Medrano had been waiting to vest was pulled a week before it was due.
Medrano has since moved to a rival EV company and is seeking reinstatement, back pay, front pay, lost benefits, restitution for the canceled stock award, and compensatory and punitive damages. The complaint was filed July 27 in federal court in Houston.
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