In a legal suit in the U.S., arbitration is a way to step outside the confines of the court and have the two parties settle their differences by a binding agreement. It is a common step in commercial disputes and is what Fisker Automotive asked a California court for on Tuesday, according to Autoweek. Fisker is dealing with a lawsuit from Tesla Motors over the design of the WhiteStar. According to court papers looked at by Autoweek, there is a hearing scheduled for June 11.

The lawsuit, which Fisker is saying will not delay the introduction of the all-electric Karma plug-in hybrid, revolves around the design of Tesla's upcoming WhiteStar sedan and related issues. Fisker denies any wrongdoing and Henrik Fisker, said, "It's simply a ridiculous suit." Tesla's Darryl Siry had no comment to Autoweek but said, "Our suit is laid out pretty clear." UPDATE: whoops, the Karma is a PHEV, not all electric. Thanks to tankd0g.

[Source: Greg Migliore / Autoweek]

You know how it goes, when there's smoke... Tesla Motors is reportedly suing Fisker Automotive for stealing inside design ideas. As rumors indicated earlier this week, Henrik Fisker apparently was hired by Tesla to style their upcoming Whitestar sedan. The styling was not to Tesla's liking, either by accident or on purpose - likely depending on who you ask -- so Fisker's designs were rejected. At that time, Tesla claims that Fisker and some associates took what they learned from Tesla and started their own project, which was unveiled recently, ironically enough, as the Karma sedan.

We should point out that it's too early to know where the truth lies when it comes to this story. Tesla is suing for the money it paid Fisker for design work along with unknown damages. There's been no response as of yet from Fisker. We'll surely be keeping you up-to-date when we find out more.

[Source: The New York Times]