Tesla Files Lawsuit Against Former Engineer For Theft Of 'Tightly Guarded' Trade Secrets: Report

Tesla, Inc. TSLA has reportedly initiated legal proceedings against a former engineer for stealing information on the company's Dojo supercomputer technology.

A former engineer at Tesla named Alexander Yatskov, who was previously employed in the company's Project Dojo illegally transferred confidential information on the supercomputer technology to his personal computer, the EV maker alleged in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Bloomberg reported.

Yatskov was hired in January to design cooling systems for the supercomputer, and he transferred "confidential and tightly guarded" thermal designs and data to his personal computer, the report noted.

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When confronted by Tesla, the former engineer confessed to having downloaded confidential information but turned over a dummy computer for inspection, the report added.

"This is a case about illicit retention of trade secrets by an employee who, in his short time at Tesla, already demonstrated a track record of lying and then lying again by providing a ‘dummy’ device to try and cover his tracks," Tesla reportedly said in the compliant.

Tesla is reportedly seeking "compensatory and exemplary damages" and an order to prevent Yatskov from disseminating its trade secrets and direct him to return all proprietary data.

Tesla closed Friday's session 0.87% lower at $865.65, according to Benzinga Pro.