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Tesla employees work on a Model S cars in the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., Thursday, May 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The family of a Tesla worker, Victor Joe Gomez Sr., filed a wrongful death lawsuit last week against Tesla and two other corporations in an Austin, Texas court. On August 1, Gomez was “immediately electrocuted” and knocked unconscious at the electric vehicle company’s Gigafactory while inspecting an electrical panel. The shock sent him into cardiac arrest, and he was transported to Dell Seaton Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The family is seeking over $1 million in damages.
Gomez was not a full-time Tesla employee, but a licensed journeyman electrician from Tesla contractor Belcan Services Group. The family is also suing Colorado River Project, LLC, which owns the land that the plant sits on.
They allege Gomez’ death was due to negligence on the part of the three corporations named in the suit. According to court filings, the defendants have not responded to the family’s request to inspect the scene where Gomez was electrocuted, effectively preventing them from gathering evidence. The family has asked that the scene be preserved, and that all attempts to alter, salvage, sell or destroy evidence be prevented through a temporary restraining order while evidence is gathered.
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OSHA previously announced an investigation but will not release any more information until its inquiry is complete.
Tesla’s massive Gigafactory, designed to employ as many as 20,000 people, is one of the most dangerous workplaces in the country. Over 1,000 injuries were recorded in 2023 alone, and two deaths have taken place so far this year. One of the few workplaces with more injuries is another Tesla factory in Fremont, California.
Another Belcan contractor, 57-year old Antelmo Ramirez, died in 2021 during the plant’s construction from excessive heat on a 96 degree day.
In the US as a whole, 5,486 workers lost their lives in 2023—15 deaths per day. In 2022, 2.8 million injury and illness cases were reported by private sector employers. Temporary and contract workers are particularly abused, experiencing higher rates of injuries compared to permanent workers.
A co-worker who knew Gomez and worked side by side with him told the WSWS, “Victor Gomez was a very hard worker and always seemed to want to make sure his job was done correctly and on time.”
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The co-worker confirmed that the company made no announcements even to plant workers after Gomez’ death. The workers at the plant feel unsafe, he says, and there have been no safety changes since the death.
“I would say that [Tesla should be] simply not pushing people as hard and not making them hurry,” he added. That would be “enough to make workers more aware and also allow them to properly do their jobs, including testing equipment. Most workers are usually always forced to do work ‘ASAP.’”
The co-worker also said that lockout-tagout (LOTO), a basic safety procedure in any workplace dealing with heavy machinery, is loosely enforced. They should “enforce LOTO more and actually have a crew or a system to verify that LOTO is being properly done,” he said.
According to the worker, Tesla does not enforce LOTO for inspections like the one that Gomez was carrying out. This means that there are no checks to ensure that equipment is de-energized, creating situations where stored-up energy can be released unexpectedly. The panel Gomez was inspecting should have been de-energized beforehand, meaning a strictly LOTO policy could have prevented the entire incident. The same worker said, “LOTO is usually required to be used by contractors but it is rarely verified by Tesla employees.”
“There were multiple injuries through my time there. A lot of the time it seemed they were caused by people not being fully aware of their surroundings while trying to quickly do their jobs.”
Gomez was told to inspect the panel “ASAP” by management, which may also have contributed to his death.
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The co-worker described grueling conditions in the plant. “I was almost forced to work endless hours—90-plus hours weekly—in order to meet their deadlines, and was expected back to work early morning every day for daily meetings and inspections.”
“I really would hope something changes in that environment, as it already had to cost the life of a great man.”
After more than a decade at 2015 E. Riverside Drive (following the original Red River-era venue closing in 2011), Emo’s current Riverside space will be taken over by AEG Presents when the lease ends later this year. The Los Angeles, CA-based company will assume operations in January 2027 and plans to reopen the building under a new name in early 2027 following upgrades, renovations and a full rebrand.
AEG are also opening a new 4,000-cap venue nearby next spring as part of the River Park mixed-use development in southeast Austin.
C3 Presents, who reopened Emo’s at the Riverside location, say this isn’t the end of Emo’s — they’re working on a new home and plan to move the venue back to downtown Austin, with more updates to come.
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AEG Presents Vice President Robin Phillips shared the following:
There’s like no weirdness or any bad blood or anything. It just, you know, new lease and they’ll [Emo’s] go do something great. They have been important to the Austin music scene, so I have a lot of respect for them.
But I don’t think the Austin music scene or legacy is limited to one name. I know people will remember the original Emo’s and this Emo’s as, you know, both great venues… And I don’t think Austin’s music scene is just a name, it’s the artists, in my opinion.
A C3 spokesperson added:
Emo’s has a long history in Austin and we’ve been working behind the scenes for some time on a new home for this venue. After we wrap up at this venue in December, we will focus our efforts on our new location.
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Emo’s gave the following statement to Austin local news KXAN:
We’re grateful for all of the fans and artists who’ve shaped Emo’s to what it is today: a community of like-minded people who love live music. We have a vision for our future and will be moving into a new building downtown that celebrates our punk rock roots with the new amenities that fans are looking for from a venue. We’ll continue to share updates on the next chapter for Emo’s on social media.
AUSTIN, Texas – State and federal agriculture officials said highly pathogenic avian flu has been found in a herd of dairy cows in Texas.
What we know:
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Officials said the H5N1 virus was confirmed with laboratory tests in late May after cows at an unspecified farm became sick and milk production dropped. The dairy has since been quarantined and an investigation is underway.
This is the first case of avian flu in a Texas dairy herd this year, officials said.
What they’re saying:
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“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is confident that pasteurization is effective at inactivating H5N1, and that the commercial, pasteurized milk supply is safe,” officials at the Texas Animal Health Commission said in a statement.
A dairy cow is seen at a farm on June 1, 2026. (Tim Evans/Bloomberg / Getty Images)
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Dig deeper:
H5N1 has a high rate of severe disease and death in animals that become infected.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk to the general public from avian flu is low. Some sporadic human infections have been reported around the world since 1997. There have been no known cases of person-to-person spreading of avian flu.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Texas Animal Health Commission, the USDA, the FDA and the CDC.
AUSTIN, Texas — Self-driving cars have become a common sight on Austin streets, but a new Texas law is adding tougher requirements for the companies behind the wheelless vehicles.
Senate Bill 2807 imposes stricter rules on autonomous vehicle companies operating in the state, including state authorization, emergency response plans for law enforcement, and a public portal where residents can verify operators and file safety complaints.
The changes come as Austin continues to track incidents involving autonomous vehicles. The city’s autonomous vehicle dashboard shows 75 incidents in 2026, including a collision, eight near misses, and seven incidents of ignoring police direction.
Attorney Drew Gibbs, a partner at Slingshot Law, said one crash involved a Waymo vehicle.
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“There was a T-bone collision. A pretty serious T-bone collision where a Waymo just crashed into the side of my client’s vehicle,” Gibbs said.
ALSO| Waymo files voluntary software recall over flooded-lane risks on high-speed roads
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One of the incidents of ignoring police direction happened during the mass shooting on West Sixth Street back in March, when three people died, and 15 others were injured.
Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock said autonomous vehicles can struggle in unusual situations.
“It didn’t impede on anything in the moment, but it’s not necessarily uncommon where these vehicles don’t quite know how to deal with these one-off scenarios,” Bullock said.
The new law requires autonomous vehicle companies to be authorized by the state, to provide an emergency response plan for law enforcement, and to participate in a public-facing portal that allows the public to verify operators and submit safety complaints.
Kara Kockelman, a professor of transportation and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, welcomed the added oversight.
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“I’m glad that the state is taking this a bit more seriously now,” she said. “It’s important not to just let others slip in without kind of meeting those basic minimums.”
Bullock said the emergency planning requirement may not make a major difference in fast-moving situations. Asked how impactful it is to have a fully laid out emergency response plan, Bullock said, “These plans are great, but it takes time to work through all of those versus the immediacy of having someone behind the wheel.”
The four autonomous vehicle companies operating in Austin — Waymo, Zoox, AV-Ride, and Tesla — are all state-authorized.
The Texas DMV said an autonomous vehicle company can lose its authorization to operate in Texas if the agency deems the vehicles are operating in a way that endangers public safety.
Waymo was contacted for comment, but had not responded.
