A California Judge has ruled that Rivian will go to trial over allegations that ex-Tesla employees stole trade secrets for the company.
In his ruling, Judge Theodore Zayner denied Rivian’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit and ruled that Tesla had sufficient evidence to proceed.
Reuters obtained the tentative order where Judge Zayner wrote:
Tesla’s evidence establishes that some Rivian employees were less thoroughly investigated and not disciplined.
While Rivian provided details of its internal investigation, the Judge said the evidence “does not conclusively establish that an investigation was adequate”.
The case stretches back to 2020 when Tesla filed a lawsuit claiming that the company noticed a pattern of Rivian poaching employees from the company. Per the initial complaint filed in Santa Clara court, Tesla accused those employees of stealing at least ten confidential and proprietary documents from Tesla servers. What was included in those documents was not released. However, Rivian has remained steadfast in its denial of the allegations. These allegations have not been tested in court.
Neither Tesla nor Rivian has commented on the tentative ruling. A final hearing is set for this afternoon in Santa Clara, California, which should include the final ruling and setting a date for when the trial will begin.
