Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Could 24 (Reuters) - A California state choose has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to ship a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at the firm's flagship meeting plant to non-public arbitration, allowing it to maneuver ahead in court.

California Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's movement 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 settlement after she had already stop her earlier job.

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

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

The lawsuit is considered one of at the very least seven pending in California state court to make comparable claims towards Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 extra of those instances.

Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Tuesday.

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

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

Along with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is going through separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its crops. A California choose last month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing unit employee who mentioned he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. learn extra

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

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

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