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 on the firm's flagship assembly plant to private arbitration, allowing it to move forward in court docket.

California Superior Court 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 mentioned Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to signal an arbitration settlement after she had already stop her previous job.

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

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

The lawsuit is one in every of a minimum of seven pending in California state court docket to make similar claims towards Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of those instances.

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."

"Due to this ruling... Tesla will likely be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe stated 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 decide final month awarded $15 million to a Black former factory employee who mentioned he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read extra

Tesla has said 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, Modifying by Rosalba O'Brien

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