Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 24 (Reuters) - A California state choose has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at the firm's flagship assembly plant to non-public arbitration, permitting it to move ahead in court docket.

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

In a written opinion released 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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"Mainly, Barraza was ambushed," the decide wrote.

Barraza within the lawsuit filed in November claims employees and supervisors at the Fremont, California plant routinely made lewd comments and gestures to feminine workers, and that the company failed to handle complaints.

The lawsuit is one in all a minimum of seven pending in California state court to make comparable claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five extra of those instances.

Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for touch upon Tuesday.

David Lowe, a lawyer for Barraza, called the decision "a victory for public accountability."

"Because of this ruling... Tesla shall be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe said in an announcement.

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

Tesla has mentioned it does not tolerate harassment and has disciplined and fired staff who engaged in misconduct.

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

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