• Tesla employees complained about Elon Musk's leadership and culture in a 2018 survey obtained by Insider.

• The survey flagged compensation, "Elon and exec team," and "care about the company's employees" as high risk areas.

• The survey was referenced on the first day of testimonies in a shareholder lawsuit against Musk.

An internal 2018 Tesla worker survey conducted during a trying period for the company reveals employees voiced concerns about Elon Musk's leadership.

The survey, which Insider obtained and is publishing in full for the first time, was referenced last week in a lawsuit against the billionaire over his more than $50 billion compensation package.

Tesla's former chief people officer, Gabrielle Toledano, sent the survey to Tesla board member Ira Ehrenpreis, who chairs the company's compensation committee, on March 2, 2018. In her email, Toledano identified two key issues employees said they were facing: concerns over compensation and concerns about leadership at Tesla, particularly around Elon Musk.

"Review of employee survey results," Toledano said in the email. "Not good on comp, esp from VPs, and not good on leadership, mostly about Elon."

In the survey of Tesla professionals, managers, executives, and directors, a total of 65% of those polled said they trusted Musk and the executive team to "balance employee interests with those of the company." 67% said they believe Musk and his executives "care about the company's employees."

A total of 58% of employees at the professional level or higher said they felt "fairly compensated" for their work.

A selection of responses about Elon Musk and his executive team showed employees complaining about his company culture, leadership, approachability and communication, work timelines, and firings.

"Tesla is hemorrhaging highly talented, ferociously driven people who truly believe in the company's vision and continue to hope for its success," wrote one worker in the survey. "Elon is a technical leader of the highest order, and yet is widely seen as an unapproachable tyrant who devalues the contributions of the staff, and may fire them on a whim ... we treat people, the fundamental unit of a company, like any other expendable resource."