Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 24 (Reuters) - A California state decide has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to ship a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at the company's flagship meeting plant to non-public arbitration, permitting it to maneuver forward in court.

California Superior Court docket Judge Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's motion to compel arbitration in a short order on Monday.

In a written opinion launched on Tuesday, Kaus stated Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to sign an arbitration agreement after she had already give up her previous job.

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"Principally, Barraza was ambushed," the decide wrote.

Barraza within the lawsuit filed in November claims staff and supervisors at the Fremont, California plant routinely made lewd comments and gestures to female workers, and that the company failed to deal with complaints.

The lawsuit is one in every of at the least seven pending in California state court to make related claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five extra of those instances.

Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for touch upon Tuesday.

David Lowe, a lawyer for Barraza, referred to as the choice "a victory for public accountability."

"Because of this ruling... Tesla will be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe mentioned in a press release.

Together with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is going through separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its plants. A California judge final month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing facility worker who mentioned he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read more

Tesla has said it doesn't tolerate harassment and has disciplined and fired staff who engaged in misconduct.

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Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Enhancing by Rosalba O'Brien

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