Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 24 (Reuters) - A California state judge has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to ship a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at the company's flagship assembly plant to private arbitration, allowing it to move ahead in court docket.

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

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

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"Basically, Barraza was ambushed," the judge wrote.

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

The lawsuit is one in all no less than seven pending in California state courtroom to make related claims towards Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five extra of those cases.

Tesla did not immediately respond 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 can 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 vegetation. A California judge final month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing facility worker who said he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. learn extra

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, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien

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