By Michael Elkins
San Francisco federal judge James Donato ordered that a dispute between Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and its former engineer Alexander Yatskov goes to arbitration following a Thursday hearing.
Tesla sued Yatskov in May for allegedly taking confidential information about the company's Dojo AI-training supercomputer and storing it on his personal computer. The lawsuit also alleged Yatskov provided a "dummy" computer for Tesla to investigate to "cover his tracks."
Yatskov's attorney John Kirke of Donahue Fitzgerald said Friday that the firm will "continue to do whatever is necessary to clear Dr. Yatskov's name, whether in open court or a private arbitration."
Yatskov previously opposed arbitration as he said that the electric vehicle giant’s "humiliating" claims had "irreparably damaged" his reputation and asked that these claims be defended in open court.
Yatskov’s attorney, Kirke said Tesla had waived its right to arbitration by pursuing the case in court.
"Now that Tesla has dragged Dr. Yatskov's name through the mud, Tesla wants to hide this dispute in private arbitration and deprive Dr. Yatskov of the opportunity to clear his name publicly," he argued. "Tesla cannot have it both ways."
The case is Tesla Inc v. Yatskov, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:22-cv-02725.