Tesla has reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of a man killed in a 2021 crash involving a Model Y vehicle near Dayton, Ohio.
The agreement, disclosed in a court filing on Monday in federal court in San Francisco, brings a quiet end to a case that was set for trial in April 2026. The terms of the settlement remain confidential.
The lawsuit was brought by the estate of Clyde Leach, a 72-year-old man whose Tesla Model Y allegedly accelerated unexpectedly before veering off the road and crashing into a pillar at a gas station. Leach died from blunt force trauma, burns, and other injuries sustained in the incident.
The plaintiffs accused Tesla of being aware of numerous reports of sudden unintended acceleration in its vehicles, including the Model Y.
Tesla denied the allegations, maintaining that the Model Y was “state-of-the-art and was not defective in design or manufacture,” and placed responsibility for the crash on the driver. The company and its legal team declined to comment on the settlement, as did the plaintiffs’ attorney, Todd Walburg.
This case adds to a growing list of legal challenges Tesla faces over the safety and functionality of its vehicles. In a similar instance last year, the automaker quietly settled another high-profile lawsuit involving the death of an Apple engineer whose Model X, reportedly operating on Autopilot,
