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Christina T. Tellado (SBN 298597) ttellado@polsinelli.com Mary Vu (SBN 323088) mvu@polsinelli.com POLSINELLI P.C.
2049 Century Park East, Suite 2900 Los Angeles, CA 90067 Telephone: 310-556-1801 Facsimile: 310-556-1802
(Additional counsel listed on next page)
Filed 02/13/25
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION,
Plaintiff,
Polsinelli LLP 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2900 Los Angeles, CA 90067 310.556.1801
vs.
Case No.: 3:23-cv-04984-JSC DEFENDANTS’ SUBMISSION REGARDING PRESERVATION OF SOURCES OF ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION
TESLA, INC.
Defendant.
DEFENDANT’S SUBMISSION REGARDING PRESERVATION OF SOURCES OF ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION CASE NO. 3:23-CV-4984-JSC
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Attorneys for Defendant TESLA, INC.
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Tyree P. Jones Jr., SBN 127631 (CA) tjones@polsinelli.com POLSINELLI P.C.
1401 I Street, N.W., Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005-3317 Telephone: 202-783-3300
Filed 02/13/25
Sara A. Begley (admitted pro hac vice) Dana E. Feinstein (admitted pro hac vice) sbegley@polsinelli.com dfeinstein@polsinelli.com POLSINELLI P.C.
Three Logan Square 1717 Arch Street, Suite 2800 Philadelphia, PA 19103 Telephone: 215-267-3001 Facsimile: 215-267-3002
Raymond A. Cardozo, SBN 173263 (CA) rcardozo@reedsmith.com REED SMITH LLP 101 Second Street, Suite 1800 San Francisco, California 94105-3659 Telephone: 415-543-8700 Facsimile: 415-391-8269
Polsinelli LLP 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2900 Los Angeles, CA 90067 310.556.1801
Document 89
DEFENDANT’S SUBMISSION REGARDING PRESERVATION OF SOURCES OF ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION CASE NO. 3:23-CV-4984-JSC
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Pursuant to this Court’s February 3, 2025 Order regarding Second ESI Protocol Discovery
Dispute (ECF No. 84), Defendant, Tesla, Inc. submits the following information related to its
Relevant ESI Sources identified in the parties’ Second Stipulated Order Regarding Discovery of
Electronically Stored Information for Standard Litigation, Attachment 1, filed with the Court on
February 7, 2025 (ECF No. 88).
Microsoft Outlook Data
As a matter of practice, Tesla preserves .pst data on all Human Resources, Employee
Relations, employees affiliated with Legal and all employees Director level and above. Messages
exchanged via Microsoft Teams are also preserved as a matter of practice but Microsoft Teams was
launched at Tesla in 2018. Therefore, Teams related data is only available since its inception in
2018. As stated in the parties’ Second ESI Protocol, Tesla’s email and Teams messages are
maintained on the Microsoft Office Outlook system.
Polsinelli LLP 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2900 Los Angeles, CA 90067 310.556.1801
Document 89
With regard to all other users at Tesla, while Tesla has a Records Retention & Disposal
Policy, .pst data has not been subject to destruction and therefore is accessible.
Convercent and CaseIQ
Tesla also maintains and preserves all internal employee complaints and issues documented
in Convercent and CaseIQ since each application’s inception [Convercent since mid-2017 and
CaseIQ since mid-2023]. Data in these databases is never destroyed.
Inside Tesla Application
Finally, Tesla maintains and preserves employment related data within Tesla’s MySQL
database and employment related documents are stored within the Document Management System
(“DMS”). Inside Tesla sources this employment data from the MySQL dataset and DMS.
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Document 89
Filed 02/13/25
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OneDrive To the extent users store documents on OneDrive, that data is not subject to deletion. Tesla-Issued Devices
With regard to Tesla-issued devices including laptops and cellular phones, when an
employee separates from employment at Tesla, and to the extent said employee follows Tesla’s
protocols for return of Tesla property upon separation, returned devices (laptops, cellular phones)
are repurposed or recycled generally within thirty days unless the user is subject to a Legal Hold.
However, any documents saved by said employee on Tesla’s servers are maintained.
Document Retention Notices and Legal Holds in Related Matters
On December 15, 2017 and later on January 7, 2018, Document Retention Notices were
issued in relation to Marcus Vaughn, et al. v. Tesla, Inc., Superior Court of Alameda County, No.
RG17882082. The Notice required users to preserve data relevant to the allegations in that action
for the period November 9, 2016 to the present and was served on a number of custodians including
the relevant Human Resources and Employee Relations professionals (who were already subject to
a hold). Additionally, the .pst data for each of the Lead Plaintiffs in the Vaughn matter and other
related witnesses identified in the Complaint in the Vaughn matter were also subject to a Legal Hold
and the data has been and continues to be preserved.
In April 2022, Document Retention Notices were issued in relation to DFEH v. Tesla, Inc.,
Superior Court of Alameda County, No. 22cv006830. The Notice required users to preserve data
relevant to the allegations in that action, which are broader than those asserted in this action, for the
period June 1, 2018 to the present and was served on a number of custodians including the relevant
Human Resources and Employee Relations professionals (who were already subject to a hold).
As a matter of practice, Tesla issues Legal Holds once it is served with notice of any Charge
filed with the EEOC or the California Civil Rights Department. Additionally, Tesla issues Legal
Holds for individuals who received a Notice of Right to Sue from the EEOC or the California Civil
Rights Department when provided notice of same.
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Tesla is in the process of issuing Legal Holds for the Potentially Aggrieved Individuals
recently identified by the EEOC and will continue to do so as the EEOC identifies additional
individuals. That said, relevant employment data would not be subject to deletion anyway.
Defendant would also request that for mutual clarity this Court direct the EEOC to identify
the specific ESI sources it has preserved for this case, when the preservation order(s) was placed,
the beginning date of the preserved ESI, and a general description of the information in each source.
The submission shall also identify whether any of the sources of data identified on Exhibit A are
inaccessible and why they are inaccessible.
Respectfully submitted,
Dated: February 13, 2025
/s/ Tyree P. Jones, Jr.
Tyree P. Jones, Jr., SBN 127631 (CA) Attorneys for Defendant, Tesla Inc.
Polsinelli LLP 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2900 Los Angeles, CA 90067 310.556.1801
DEFENDANT’S SUBMISSION REGARDING PRESERVATION OF SOURCES OF ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION CASE NO. 3:23-CV-4984-JSC
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