Elon Musk loses legal battle with Tesla critic, judge rules to keep defamation case 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk lost round one of battle with critic of his company who h sued him for defamation. A California judge has denied X founder’s request to reject lawsuit filed by Randeep Hothi, a Tesla short-seller who h said in August 2020 that Musk h defamed him and even hampered his reputation by writing an email claiming that Hothi has “almost killed Tesla employees”. Tesla CEO h attempted to overturn lawsuit but his remained unsuccessful.

As per Bloomberg report, US judge Julia Spain of Alameda County Superior Court in California dismissed claims me by Elon Musk that Hothi’s lawsuit was baseless and an attempt to stifle Tesla CEO’s free speech. As per reports, in a ruling published on January 27, judge said that re were grounds for a trial and ded that Hothi could win. 

Spain has ruled that Musk’s remarks about Tesla critic were t protected under California’s Anti-SLAPP statute that allows lawsuits to be dismissed quickly if y interfere with defendant’s free speech because Tesla did t showcase that Musk’s remarks came in connection with a matter of public interest.

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Defamation case against Musk

As per reports, Randeep Hothi is a University of Michigan gruate student who drew Elon Musk’s wrath at least two years ago following two separate incidents including Hothi’s harmless claims. Firstly, in February 2019, Hothi was confronted by a security guard when he went to do research reportedly at Tesla sales centre in Fremont, California. Secondly, in April 2019, Hothi said he was driving when he h spotted a Tesla test car, took photos of it and posted online. 

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In wake of incidents, Musk has complained about Hothi in an e-mail to an online tech editor describing Hothi as ‘liar’ and accused him of “almost killing Tesla employees” while driving away from sales centre. However, Hothi claimed that Musk h unleashed an online hate campaign against him and filed lawsuit in August in Alameda county superior court. But, Tesla CEO asked judge to strike lawsuit on grounds that his remarks were a matter of public interest.

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Im credits: Associated Press