Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Might 24 (Reuters) - A California state decide has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at the firm's flagship meeting 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 quick order on Monday.

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

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

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

The lawsuit is one in every of no less than seven pending in California state court to make related claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 extra of those circumstances.

Tesla did not instantly respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

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

"Due to this ruling... Tesla might be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's peers in a public courtroom," Lowe stated in a statement.

Together with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is dealing with separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its crops. A California decide last month awarded $15 million to a Black former factory employee who said he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read extra

Tesla has said 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, Enhancing by Rosalba O'Brien

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