By Samuel Messidor
The worker killed on August 1 at the Austin, TX Tesla “gigafactory” location has been identified as Victor Joe Gomez Sr., an electrician. According to local monopoly media, his family has filed a lawsuit against Tesla claiming Gomez Sr. was electrocuted while checking electrical panels. The panels were supposed to be disconnected at the time, but were energized.
The family is suing Tesla for $1 million, and has hired independent investigators to inspect the property before evidence is tampered with by the company. It is unclear if they will be quick enough to preempt tampering and witness interference by Tesla, a company infamous for worker safety violations, lying to Federal regulators, and union-busting. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) previously stated they are also beginning an investigation into the killing but will not release details until they conclude the investigation.
The name of the killed worker and the manner of death are corroborated by accounts posted on social media by current and former Tesla employees in Austin. The same accounts say Gomez Sr. was a father of 6, working in the new construction area of the gigafactory which will house supercomputers meant to develop Tesla’s self-driving capabilities. One commentator claims that “[management] are pushing very hard to meet [the] unrealistic deadline that Elon [Musk] wanted” for the new construction and that the head of construction was fired recently for a supposed lack of quick progress.
According to statements from Tesla contract workers gathered by The Worker, a contractor attempted to save Gomez Sr. with CPR at the time of his electrocution.
Gomez Sr. was an employee of Tesla’s contractor Belcan, which is a multinational industrial engineering firm with a hand in the automotive industry, the military-industrial complex, aerospace, and mass transit. Belcan brags on its website about its strategies for implementing time-saving management and software measures in manufacturing, which is in line with helping Tesla rush through construction of self-driving facilities, making Gomez Sr. a casualty of the capitalist drive to increase the rate of exploitation.
