A former Tesla engineer is suing the company for defamation, accusing it of trying to “silence” its employees.

Cristina Balan, who until 2014 worked for the electric car and battery manufacturer in California, claims it defamed her in a media statement given to the Huffington Post last year, which accused her of misusing company money and working on her own “secret” side project.

Tesla, run by controversial founder Elon Musk, is trying to force the dispute into private arbitration. The ­company argues that documents signed by Ms Balan when she joined the company remove her right to a full legal hearing.

In documents filed in court in Seattle, Washington, earlier this month, Ms Balan argued that the dispute does not directly relate to her employment at Tesla and therefore is not covered by the documents she signed.

She said other attempts by Tesla to sue former employees showed that “this arbitration agreement is only meant to be one-sided and only with the intention to silence their employees”. She also claims that while she was an employee the company prevented her from participating in a series of ­articles to “empower young women to choose a career in automotive”.

But the firm called her legal arguments “wholly without merit” and said: “Tesla has at no point made any effort to ‘stop’ or ‘destroy’ the plaintiff in any way, including any efforts she may have made to become a public speaker”.