Tesla Motor Inc. associates work on the Model S electric car at the Tesla Motors Inc. factory in Fremont, California, on  April 11, 2012. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

A former janitor at Tesla's Fremont, California, assembly plant reached a $13 million deal to settle her claims related to catastrophic injuries she suffered on the factory floor in 2014.

Lawyers for the janitor, Teodora Tapia, at the Parris Law Firm reached the settlement with Tesla and West Valley Staffing Group, the contractor whose employee was driving the car that injured Tapia, shortly after jury selection in the case was completed before Alameda Superior Court Judge Paul Herbert on May 9.

Tapia sued the company in 2016 with counsel from Beverly Hills attorney John Pollitt. The suit came about two years after Tapia claimed she was injured by being pinned between the bumpers of two cars on the factory floor. She later added West Valley and Joseph Aguilar, the worker who drove the car that injured her, as co-defendants. Tapia claimed she was mopping up a puddle when Aguilar attempted to move a European edition of the Tesla Model S and mistakenly put the car into drive, pinning her and crushing her lower extremities. She claims that she has not been able to work since the accident.

Khail Parris of the Parris Law Firm, a member of Tapia's legal team, said that the two sides reached the settlement after lawyers for each side made a short five-minute mini-opening statement during jury selection. Parris said that since the trial was to focus on damages only, it was clear that Tesla's case would hinge on labeling Tapia a faker.

“What it did, it kind of put into perspective how easy the decision was going to be for the jury,” Parris said in a phone interview Monday. “They risked the jury punishing them for taking such a position. It's one thing to say 'we're not fully accountable.' It's another thing to point the finger and say 'you're a liar.'”

A spokesperson for Tesla said that the incident dated back to 2014 and involved “two contractors on Tesla's property.” Tesla said West Valley will pay the bulk of the settlement. “We care deeply about the safety and well-being of everyone who works at Tesla's facilities, whether they are a contractor or Tesla employee. However, this trial was focused solely on the amount of damages due, and was not related to Tesla's safety practices,” the spokesperson said.

Tesla and West Valley have also been named along with three other staffing companies in a lawsuit set to be heard by U.S. District Judge William Orrick III of the Northern District of California. The suit claims workers faced racial discrimination at the Tesla factory.