When did this incident occur?

The incident is recorded as occurring on July 22, 2023 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.

Incident · Injury

Tesla technician sues for 51M after FANUC robot arm knocked him unconscious at Fremont factory

Peter Hinterdobler, a 50-year-old robotics technician at Teslas Fremont factory, was knocked unconscious and seriously injured when a FANUC robot arm released during disassembly, propelled by mechanical power and an 8,000-pound counterbalance weight. He has incurred approximately 1M in medical expenses with 6M more needed. He sued Tesla and FANUC for 51M in damages, alleging Tesla failed to ensure the robot was safely de-energized before disassembly work.

Occurred 2023-07-22 · Tesla

Track Tesla technician sues for 51M after FANUC robot arm knocked him unconscious at Fremont factory

Machine-readable surfaces

Markdown mirror: /incidents/injury-2023-07-22-tesla.md
JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
REST API: /v1/incidents/e45966ca-7fd1-4df4-924c-7fbfdbc861ed
Data documentation: /data
Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP

Sources (1)

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/tesla-technician-robot-lawsuit-21067323.php

Status history

Active · 2026-07-06 · agent:depth

Common questions

What happened in Tesla technician sues for 51M after FANUC robot arm knocked him unconscious at Fremont factory?: Peter Hinterdobler, a 50-year-old robotics technician at Teslas Fremont factory, was knocked unconscious and seriously injured when a FANUC robot arm released during disassembly, propelled by mechanical power and an 8,000-pound counterbalance weight. He has incurred approximately 1M in medical expenses with 6M more needed. He sued Tesla and FANUC for 51M in damages, alleging Tesla failed to ensure the robot was safely de-energized before disassembly work.
When did this incident occur?: The incident is recorded as occurring on July 22, 2023 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
Who was involved in Tesla technician sues for 51M after FANUC robot arm knocked him unconscious at Fremont factory?: The incident is recorded as involving Tesla on the DEPLOY registry. No specific robot model is linked to this incident in the registry.
Has anyone responded to Tesla technician sues for 51M after FANUC robot arm knocked him unconscious at Fremont factory?: No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Tesla technician sues for 51M after FANUC robot arm knocked him unconscious at Fremont factory?: This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.

Methodology: Unreviewed · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-06

Verification posture

Unreviewed

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-06

Sources by quality tier

1: unclassified; Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Deploy Watch

Track this incident.

We notify you when the regulator updates the record, the remedy status changes, or a related incident surfaces.

Canonical ID e45966ca-7fd1-4df4-924c-7fbfdbc861ed