Any Tesla executives or employees here?

[POORSH]

A client's family came in to our office the other day and said his father just passed away. I've known this client for a good 16 years, and he was a Tesla employee until the day he passed. He had been with Tesla since they started building cars in Fremont. His passing was rather sudden, about three weeks from diagnoses of a medical condition to passing. He was in his 50's. Great guy.

Anyway, my question to anyone who is affiliated with Tesla is this: the day he passed, Tesla immediately ended health care insurance coverage for his wife and family (his wife doesn't work because of her medical condition. His son is in college, so no medical insurance of his own). In addition, Tesla immediately removed his name from the priority list for the upcoming Model 3, which he had reserved for his daughter. Tesla would not allow his position to be transferred to his daughter.

I am not familiar with Tesla employer/employee policies , but is this how brutal it is there? Not trying to bad mouth anybody, just curious to their policies.

[wildthing]

Seems standard to me. It's like a termination.

That's why I have life insurance. I'm the only one who works, and I have a wife and 3 kids.

Not sure about the Model 3 allocation. There might be some clause about it not being transferable.

[wdfifteen]

Tesla was being pretty generous if they were paying for the family's health insurance. It would be expected that when an employee dies or is terminated, the health insurance benefit terminates. The family should be able to continue the insurance through the COBRA plan, but its going to be on their dime.
Throwing him off the Model 3 waiting list is pretty harsh. I hope they give the widow the deposit back.

[M.D. Holloway]

While Tesla is a great and innovative company it is still a company and while we all want to think that a company can have humanistic compassion it is not unlike any other living organism in that it is all about self preservation / survival and growth. Given the opportunity even your beloved dog or cat will eat your face if you were to die and he / she was the only witness for a few days.

We tend to look to what is just and fair by applying overtones on a situation that applauds our definition of compassion. And while this sure does seem like the right thing to do in reality it only works on a one-to-one level. Companies (like countries) have the overall mission for the mass not the individual and one can attempt to argue that the mass is made up individuals, but in reality the whole exceeds the sum of its parts for companies.

When in question, apply an 'if/then' approach to the scenario - 'if we do his, then this will happen...'. The last thing any company will want to do is set up exceptions to rules. It becomes a downward spiral insomuch that it isn't the just and righteous that are to be satisfied but rather the unjust that will look to game the system. This is due to the sad fact that people are not of hive mentality and are only going to look at their self interests with the ultimate pursuit to have an increase in their level of personal comfort, control, and convenience.

[sammyg2]

Tesla sux.

[URY914]

Welcome to CORPORATE America. Once your value to the corporation is zero they are done with you. No golden parachute for middle management.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

It would be expected that when an employee dies or is terminated, the health insurance benefit terminates.

Man, a little tiny bit of love would go a long way. 30 days to get the COBRA thing rolling, maybe?

That's a real shame for the family, but this is only one of the reasons health insurance should be disconnected from employer.

[stomachmonkey]

Worked for a company that sent a termination letter to a much loved employee.

Be back at work by xx/xx/xxxx or consider yourself terminated.

Problem is she was in a coma.

She died two days later.

When her staff found out about the letter half of them walked out on the spot, roughly a dozen people.

[jyl]

Tesla is losing huge amounts of money, and some who study the financial data think it is struggling to meet production, sales, and growth goals. I imagine it is looking for ways to save money.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4085784-tesla-story-becoming-increasingly-fantastic-business-model-falls-apart

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by jyl

Tesla is losing huge amounts of money, and some who study the financial data think it is struggling to meet production, sales, and growth goals. I imagine it is looking for ways to save money.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4085784-tesla-story-becoming-increasingly-fantastic-business-model-falls-apart

Take away the free gubmint carbon credits and subsidies, and the company would be nothing but a distant memory.

Our tax dollars are used to pay tesla to exist.

I work for a company that is in exactly that same boat.
Take away all the gubmint subsidies and grants and it would close the doors that same day.

[jcommin]

Tesla's insurance doesn't sound much different that the rest of Corporate America. I'm sure Cobra is available for his family. COBRA FAQs - COBRAInsurance.com

It's not cheap but it is a bridge to get insurance on the ACA program. My company offers life insurance for salaried employees which is 1 year salary. I can get more coverage for a monthly amount.

The family should contact Tesla HR to understand what options and benefits they have.

[cairns]

I'm pretty sure Tesla (or any company) would be required to send the spouse notice that a "qualifying event" has occurred and that she can purchase Cobra. Every employer I've worked for would have proactively reached out to the family, assisted them in obtaining Cobra, and have provided a sympathy card, flowers, plaque or a donation to a charity as a token of appreciation for the employees work. The companies never had a policy regarding this they just did it- I saw it happen many, many times and I worked for major defense and consulting firms. Doing that sent a big message to the rest of the employees and was worth far more in good will and improved morale than it ever cost the firm.

But I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla didn't....Elon just doesn't look like a guy I would want to work for.

IMO there's more than a lot of Eleanor Holmes in him (you can look up what a princess she is) and it filters down. Pulling the Model 3 priority is just cold- I think that tells you what you're dealing with.

[speedster911]

Most plans would not terminate insurance until the last day of the month and then send info to the surviving spouse related to Cobra. I believe that COBRA is a mandatory offering in the state of CA.

As others have stated, best to call HR and also discover if the deceased spouse had survivor benefits, Life insurance, 401k balance, vacation carry over, stock options that may be vested etc.

Car allocation: most companies when offering these side perks have a stipulation that you must be currently employed to participate. A call to his direct manager should provide guidance and see if an exception can be granted under this tragic situation.

[berettafan]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Tesla was being pretty generous if they were paying for the family's health insurance. It would be expected that when an employee dies or is terminated, the health insurance benefit terminates. The family should be able to continue the insurance through the COBRA plan, but its going to be on their dime.
Throwing him off the Model 3 waiting list is pretty harsh. I hope they give the widow the deposit back.

Generous with MY TAX DOLLARS.


Nevertheless nothing I'm reading in OP sounds out of line.

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by cairns

I'm pretty sure Tesla (or any company) would be required to send the spouse notice that a "qualifying event" has occurred and that she can purchase Cobra. Every employer I've worked for would have proactively reached out to the family, assisted them in obtaining Cobra, and have provided a sympathy card, flowers, plaque or a donation to a charity as a token of appreciation for the employees work. The companies never had a policy regarding this they just did it- I saw it happen many, many times and I worked for major defense and consulting firms. Doing that sent a big message to the rest of the employees and was worth far more in good will and improved morale than it ever cost the firm.

But I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla didn't....Elon just doesn't look like a guy I would want to work for.

IMO there's more than a lot of Eleanor Holmes in him (you can look up what a princess she is) and it filters down. Pulling the Model 3 priority is just cold- I think that tells you what you're dealing with.

Carins, I have been in the automotive industry for 37 of my 45 years since graduating college. I have seen many automotive plants as well as working with their engineering staffs. The auto industry is a tuff industry and I have survived the many business cycles. It is not glamours but I love what I do. Tesla would be an interesting company to work for - I would love to visit their facilities. If I was much younger, I would work for them.


you tube video of the old NUMMI plant, the Toyota/GM joint venture bought for pennies on the dollar by Tesla. https://youtu.be/6G41VHi5M8U

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by jyl

Tesla is losing huge amounts of money, and some who study the financial data think it is struggling to meet production, sales, and growth goals. I imagine it is looking for ways to save money.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4085784-tesla-story-becoming-increasingly-fantastic-business-model-falls-apart

Jeebus, this is not uplifting. Pal has a 3 on order.

He is a certified Tesla freak. His vanity plate is TESLA S1 on his 2013 S.

I want him to get a vanity plate that says "EDISON". He slaps me with his Tesla baseball cap (one of seven) in response.

Tesloids are unflappable. I am not to the Sammy level of contempt but definitely not a Tesloid.

Love my pal's S though.

[berettafan]

in my mind ordering a Tesla is akin to counseling welfare recipients on how to avoid actually getting hired.

[jyl]

I have nothing against Tesla cars. I was quite negative on the Autopilot but it seems like they've dialed the claims down a bit. I just think that the auto OEM business is really, really hard. It is easy to mock the Fords, Mercedes, and BMWs of the world as obsolete, outdated, uncool, ready to be swept aside by new nimble competitors, etc. But those companies have a huge amount of hard-earned knowledge about how to actually make money as a mass market auto OEM.

[Rick Lee]

I just changed jobs a month ago and it took exactly a month to get my letter about COBRA eligibility, which is retroactive for up to 60 days, AFAIK. The deceased's insurance is probably good through the end of the month in which he passed. But even if it's not, if another tragedy strikes, you can just pay the COBRA premiums retroactively. Long ago when I was going to have to wait a month or more for the new job's insurance to kick in, I actually filled out the COBRA paperwork, wrote the check, dated it for that day, put a stamp on the envelope and told my then-GF to mail it if I got into a bad car or bike wreck as soon as she heard about it. My HR dir. said that would definitely work.