New legal documents have unveiled that Tesla rejected a $60 million settlement in a wrongful death case in Miami that ended up costing the company $243 million in punitive and compensatory damages earlier this month.
The case in question involved a 2019 Tesla Model S crash in which a driver using Autopilot collided with a parked vehicle. The resulting crash killed the owner of the parked Tahoe and seriously injured her boyfriend. The victims’ families had sought $345 million in damages from Tesla, citing Autopilot as the reason for the crash.
Per The Verge, the court documents reveal that the victim’s lawyer offered Tesla a $60 million settlement as part of a request to the court to force Tesla to pay the legal fees of the suit. However, Tesla rejected the offer and countered with a lower sum, along with a demand for a non-disclosure agreement. The lawyers for the victim declined the offer and pushed forward with the case.
Earlier this month, the court awarded the victim’s families $129 million in compensatory damages plus $200 million in punitive damages. Tesla was held liable for 33% of the compensatory damages, or $42.6 million, and the Tesla S driver, George McGee, was liable for 67%. McGee was not a defendant in the case and did not have to pay his share.
This case is precedent-setting, as Tesla has been able to avoid court rulings against Autopilot crashes since they first started popping up. Typically, Tesla can settle with victims or convince the court to dismiss, but this ruling will now certainly be standard case law for accidents involving driver-assist features moving forward.
However, Tesla still has the opportunity to appeal the decision, which they mostly likely will.
