in recent months the company mounted an unusual tent - like apparatus known as a sprung structure that houses a new assembly line as part of its factory in fremont , california .
in response to tripp ’s claim to be a whistleblower , musk told the guardian by email on the evening of 20 june that tesla had “ received a call at the gigafactory that he martin tripp , an ex - tesla technician the company has accused of hacking and sabotage , has now countersued his former employer and claimed that tesla defamed him .
tripp fought back , telling reporters that he was not a saboteur , but a whistleblower who had leaked information to a reporter for business insider out of environmental and safety concerns .
tripp also alleges that tesla is not living up to its mission to improve the environment and instead is generating " large quantities of waste and ' scrap ' vehicle parts lying haphazardly on the ground inside the gigafactory , " according to the counterclaim .
however , to date , tesla 's ambitious promised ramp - up to produce 5,000 model 3s per week .
since tesla fired tripp and sued him more than a month ago for alleged trade secrets theft , he has hired a new york attorney to help him file a formal whistleblower complaint with the securities and exchange commission .
business insider martin tripp , a former process technician at tesla who says he made $ 28 an hour , filed a countersuit against the company on tuesday .
martin tripp , a former technician at tesla ’s gigafactory in nevada , was sued by the electric car company on 20 june , just days after musk had sent a company email stating that an employee had engaged in “ quite extensive and damaging sabotage ” against the company ’s computer systems .
more allegations from tripp also claims that punctured battery cells were reworked with glue the tesla “ whistleblower ” who was accused of sabotage has filed a counterclaim against tesla and elon musk , arguing that his former employer defamed him when it told media outlets that he had threatened a mass shooting .