Tesla Manager Alleges Unsafe Oversight of 38 Autonomous Vehicles in Houston
A Tesla manager alleges he was the sole overseer of 38 autonomous test vehicles in Houston, working 60–80-hour weeks while Tesla ignored his warnings about unsafe conditions and understaffing. He filed a lawsuit claiming Tesla retaliated against him for raising safety concerns.
What happened
Javier Medrano joined Tesla in October 2023 and was assigned to supervise the Houston Full Self-Driving testing programme in mid-2024. By April 2026, when the programme launched robotaxis in Houston and Dallas, Medrano was the sole manager overseeing 38 test vehicles with safety operators across three 24-hour shifts, contrary to an internal rule setting a 15-to-1 ratio of operators to managers.
In May 2024, Tesla's Autopilot leadership established an internal security rule of one manager per 15 operators. Medrano's workload expanded to 38 vehicles and operators without additional managerial support. His responsibilities included remote surveillance, emergency response, camera image verification, weekly vehicle audits and investigations following incidents. He worked 60 to 80 hours per week with on-call duties on weekends.
Reported impact
In February 2025, Medrano requested additional team support and a one-to-two week break, describing his request as 'officially my signal of distress' in writing to his supervisor. He received the response 'I don't have the impression that you're overwhelmed.' Human resources advised him to put his smartphone on Do Not Disturb during testing periods.
On 30 March 2025, one of the test vehicles was involved in an accident with another road user. Medrano answered the emergency call while severely sleep deprived, later reporting no memory of the conversation. The next day, he alerted human resources to a permanent danger to public road safety in Houston.
Index analysis
The complaint describes the test vehicles as 'rolling hazards on public streets.' Medrano stated that severe biological exhaustion and chronic understaffing posed risks during the remote monitoring of autonomous driving tests on public roads.
Governance controls
Tesla's internal rule established a maximum ratio of 15 safety operators per manager; the Houston operation exceeded this by 2.5 times. Human resources did not authorize the requested reinforcement or rest period, instead suggesting Medrano disable notifications during testing hours.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.