Michael Siluk/Getty Images
- A woman sued Tesla for $2 million after she was struck by a car driven by a worker at a dealership.
- Rakshinda Parvez was waiting while her family test-drove a Tesla, according to the lawsuit.
- The lawsuit claimed she suffered multiple injuries, but Tesla disputed her account of the incident.
A woman waiting while her family was test-driving a Tesla was hit by another car driven by a worker at the dealership, a lawsuit says.
Rakshinda Parvez, from New York, was struck in the parking lot at a Tesla center in Baltimore, Maryland, in March 2019, according to a lawsuit filed in March last year.
She walked behind a Tesla driven by an employee that had stopped at the parking lot exit, an amended complaint filed in November stated.
The car then reversed “suddenly and without warning,” resulting in concussion as well as neurological, disc, and other orthopedic injuries to Parvez, the lawsuit alleged. It accused the employee of failing to reverse safely and pay proper attention.
Parvez sought damages of at least $2 million, excluding legal costs, according to her lawyer, Craig Meyers.
In its response, Tesla disputed Parvez’s account of the incident and said her injuries were caused by “unforeseeable” acts.
The company’s counterclaim sought to cover its legal costs defending the lawsuit.
A federal criminal investigation that began in 2021 is considering Tesla’s claim to offer “full-self driving capabilities” defrauds consumers.
Elon Musk’s company also faces another federal investigation into “phantom braking.” An eight-car pileup in the San Francisco Bay Area last month was believed to have been caused by the problem, CNN reported.
Representatives for Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.