Tesla was rocked with some unfortunate news on Wednesday, January 19, as one of its employees died while working on a production line at its factory in Fremont, California. Officials from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, are now investigating the cause of death of the production associate, who collapsed while working on Tesla's powertrain line.
Health and safety officials from the agency released a statement via email on Thursday morning, saying that "Cal/OSHA is gathering more information to determine the work-relatedness of this event and whether to conduct an inspection." Cal-Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokesman Peter Melton also confirmed that Tesla notified his agency about the worker's death.
The employee's identification has not been released, but the Fremont Fire Department relaid the circumstances surrounding his death. According to spokesperson Aisha Knowles, their crews responded to a report at around 5:38 a.m. on Wednesday of a medical emergency at Tesla's factory.
The call was upgraded to a rescue while the firefighters were on their way to the factory after dispatchers found out that a male employee was possibly trapped in the machinery. The firefighters, who arrived at the scene first, updated the response back to a medical emergency as they discovered that no machinery was involved in the incident.
Upon learning that development, the Fremont Fire Department canceled sending additional crews to the factory to help in the rescue. Knowles added that Falck paramedics pronounced the worker dead at the scene. According to the carmaker's website, he died while working on a powertrain, an improved motor, inverter, and gearbox.
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His death comes just a little more than a month after a Tesla employee allegedly murdered his co-worker outside the company's factory. Charges of murder and the special circumstance of lying in wait, as well as possession of an assault weapon, were filed against 29-year-old Anthony Solima after he fatally shot 42-year-old Lee Brasier.
Prosecutors said that Solima allegedly waited for Brasier to get off work before fatally shooting the victim in the head in the Tesla factory's parking lot. Authorities said that Solima and Brasier argued earlier that week with the suspect abruptly walking off the job.
Things took a turn for the worse when Solima returned to the Tesla facility armed with a .223-caliber short-barreled AR-15. He waited in the parking lot and drilled Brasier with a headshot after the latter finished his shift at work. Braiser was entering his car when the shooting took place with his keys still in the door of the Toyota Tundra.
Brasier was pronounced dead at the scene, with the victim sustaining at least one gunshot wound. According to court records, the suspected murder weapon, which had no serial number, was found by the police inside Solima's car.
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