The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Tesla nearly $50,000 following a worker’s death at its Gigafactory in Texas, underscoring owner Elon Musk’s ethical entanglements as he and the Trump administration hack at federal agencies.
The workplace safety agency opened an investigation last year after Victor Joe Gomez Sr. died on Aug. 1, 2024. Gomez was an electrician working for a subcontractor at the automaker’s Austin facility when he was electrocuted, according to a wrongful death lawsuit his family filed against Tesla.
OSHA ended up hitting Tesla with three “serious” violations, each coming with a $16,550 penalty. The agency issued the citations on Jan. 31 but did not release the details until Wednesday, according to Jordan Barab, a former OSHA official who writes the newsletter Confined Space.
One of those violations was for exposing workers to electrical hazards while they were testing and inspecting newly installed electrical equipment. Tesla, the citation states, had neglected to perform a hazard analysis, put up warning signs or communicate “safe work procedures.”
The other violations were for failing to protect workers against electric shock by de-energizing circuits, and failure to provide protective equipment.
“Musk has tangled with a host of regulatory bodies due to his various business interests, which include Tesla, his rocket company SpaceX and his social media site X.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The Austin-based electric vehicle producer has the option to appeal the citations for review, and financial penalties are often negotiated downward during that process. OSHA previously issued around $7,000 in fines against Tesla for chemical safety violations that turned up in a separate investigation.
OSHA’s findings are a reminder of just how many conflicts of interest Musk faces as the White House guts federal agencies and fires federal employees by the thousands.
According to President Donald Trump, Musk is the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency that’s tasked with shrinking the regulatory state and helping the administration close agencies it wants gone.
(Trump’s Department of Justice has tried to assert for legal reasons that Musk does not run DOGE, but Trump himself has said publicly ― including during his speech to Congress Tuesday ― that Musk is in charge of the effort.)
Musk has tangled with a host of regulatory bodies due to his various business interests, which include Tesla, his rocket company SpaceX and his social media site X, formerly Twitter. Now he’s in a position to cut or undermine agencies like OSHA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Board.
The CFPB, which would regulate a payment system Musk hopes to implement on X, has been effectively closed by the Trump administration, with hundreds of staffers facing layoffs. Musk had previously said he wanted to “delete” the agency that helps guard consumers from predatory financial practices.
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Musk has also taken aim at the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforces collective bargaining rights for workers.
After the NLRB brought a complaint against SpaceX alleging the company illegally fired employees who’d openly criticized Musk in 2022, SpaceX filed a lawsuit arguing the board’s structure is unconstitutional.
That lawsuit is now making its way through federal court, but in the meantime, the Trump administration has already disabled the NLRB by firing one of its members and eliminating its quorum so it can’t issue decisions.