Tesla employee claims Sixth Street shooting suspect assaulted her while on prayer break

(CN) – A 65-year-old Tesla employee claims Sixth Street mass shooting suspect Ndiaga Diagne assaulted her in December while working at a Tesla facility, according to an amended complaint filed Thursday in Travis County District Court.

Lillian Mendoza Brady is suing Tesla, claiming the electric car company negligently failed to keep her safe from Diagne.

“Defendant maintained a policy and practice of permitting and sanctioning employee prayer breaks within common areas of the facility. During a sanctioned break, defendant’s employee Ndiaga Diagne was engaged in the act of prayer in a common area. He violently and without provocation physically assaulted plaintiff,” the complaint says. “Prior to this assault, defendant had knowledge, or should have had knowledge of Ndiaga Diagne’s volatile temperament and propensity for aggression, yet took no steps to monitor the common areas or supervise sanctioned activities in those spaces.”

Brady is seeking over $1 million in monetary damages. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Early Sunday, gunfire erupted on Sixth Street, a popular entertainment district in Austin, Texas. Police say 53-year-old Diagne, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Senegal, fired a pistol from a black Cadillac SUV into a crowd outside the bar Buford’s before parking nearby. He then exited with a rifle and fired at a passerby while moving back toward the bar area. Officers fatally shot Diagne after an exchange of gunfire.

Austin police said 19 people were injured. Diagne died at the scene along with two victims, 19-year-old Ryder Harrington and 21-year-old Savitha Shan. A third victim, 30-year-old Jorge Pederson, died at a hospital the next day.

The FBI is investigating whether the shooting was an act of terrorism. A photo from the scene appears to show Diagne wearing a sweatshirt reading “Property of Allah.” The Associated Press also reported he wore a shirt with an Iranian flag design, raising speculation the attack may be tied to U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran.

Robert Hilliard, an attorney representing Brady, told Courthouse News Service in an email that Brady repeatedly asked Tesla for the name of the man who assaulted her, but the company refused to provide it.

“After the 6th Street shooting, Lillian saw the face of the man who attacked her on the news and, for the first time, learned his name: Ndiaga Diagne. He had just been identified as the shooter in the Austin mass shooting that killed multiple young people and injured many others,” Hilliard said. “If Tesla had information about Diagne’s violent behavior before he attacked Lillian Brady and failed to act, then not only might her assault have been prevented, it may have been an early warning sign of a far greater danger.”