Elon Musk breaks into the restaurant industry with his Tesla Diner opening in Hollywood, California.
A Miami jury Friday found Tesla partly liable for a 2019 fatal crash involving its Autopilot system, ordering the automaker to pay more than $242 million in damages to the victims.
The family of Naibel Benavides Leon and her former boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, were awarded $329 million in total damages — $129 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages, Reuters reported, citing the verdict sheet.
Jurors in Miami federal court said the automaker must pay 33% of the compensatory damages, or $42.6 million, and the full punitive damages, $200 million, for a total of $242.6 million, according to Reuters.
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Tesla electric vehicles fill a car lot at the Tesla retail location in Smithtown, N.Y. (John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Tesla told FOX Business its numbers reflect that any punitive damages would be capped at a maximum of three times the compensatory award. This means that the automaker’s maximum liability could be $170 million — $42.5 million in compensatory damages and $127.5 million in punitive damages.
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The driver, George McGee, was found responsible for 67% of the crash, but since he was a defendant, he will not be required to pay his share of the damages, Reuters reported.
Brett Schreiber, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the verdict “represents justice for Naibel’s tragic death and Dillon’s lifelong injuries,” according to Reuters.
A Tesla robotaxi with no backseat passengers travels on the street along South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. (Reuters/Joel Angel Juarez / Reuters)
“Tesla designed Autopilot only for controlled-access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere, alongside Elon Musk telling the world Autopilot drove better than humans,” Schreiber said in a statement.
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The automaker, which plans to appeal the jury’s decision, said the verdict was wrong and that the driver was entirely at fault for speeding, being distracted and overriding Autopilot.
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“We plan to appeal given the substantial errors of law and irregularities at trial,” Tesla told FOX Business in an email. “To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash. This was never about Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs’ lawyers blaming the car when the driver – from day one – admitted and accepted responsibility.
Dillon Angulo, center with tie, stands next to Neima Benavides, the sister of Dillon’s girlfriend, Naibel Benavides Leon, who was killed in a Florida Keys crash in 2019 near the Ocean Reef Club. (Charles Rabin/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“Florida law is explicit that punitive damages have been all but eliminated in product liability cases such as this one, so we are confident that the punitive damage award, at a minimum and likely this whole verdict, will be overturned by the appellate court.”
In April 2019, George McGee was driving his 2019 Autopilot-equipped Tesla Model S at around 62 mph, when he struck a parked Chevrolet Tahoe. The victims were standing next to the SUV on the shoulder, and Benavides Leon was killed while Angulo had serious injuries, Reuters reported.
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The automaker, which recently launched its robotaxi business, has been the subject of similar lawsuits related to its self-driving vehicles, but they have been settled or dismissed prior to reaching trial, according to Reuters.
Brett Schreiber did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
