EV maker Tesla’s (TSLA) stock slumped today after it was accused by an Australian judge of not taking the safety concerns of its drivers seriously enough.
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Really Bad Time for Tesla
Federal court judge Tom Thawley warned Tesla that it could face a “really bad time” if its “inadequate” cooperation with a class action lawsuit over alleged vehicle defects and misleading claims continued. He openly questioned whether Tesla had approached the process seriously, calling the scale of disclosures related to the case to date “gobsmacking.”
The lawsuit, brought on behalf of about 10,000 Australian Tesla drivers, accuses the company of misleading consumers about phantom braking, battery range and self-driving capabilities.
However, Tesla said it had already reviewed a massive volume of internal records and remained concerned about disclosing sensitive information, including engineering data and the identities of individuals involved in the case. Tesla has also denied mischaracterizing its products.
Tesla Not Providing Evidence
According to Reuters, Tesla has produced only 2,000 documents during the so-called discovery process over a period of eight months. Lawyers for the plaintiffs alleged that Tesla had failed to provide enough engineering and complaint-related documents for experts to review the claims properly. They added that Tesla’s lawyer argued that the company had manually reviewed about 100,000 documents and still had another 75,000 to examine.
Thawley ordered Tesla to produce complete discovery by July 31 and scheduled another hearing for September 1.
The lawsuit adds to the regulatory pressure on Tesla. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) started investigating its Full Self-Driving technology in 2024, and in October 2025, launched a probe into 2.88 million vehicles following reports of traffic violations linked to the system.
The NHTSA expanded that probe in March to investigate 3.2 million vehicles.
Is TSLA a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, TSLA has a Hold consensus based on 12 Buy, 12 Hold and 5 Sell ratings. Its highest price target is $600. TSLA stock’s consensus price target is $403.86, implying a 5.13% downside.
