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 on the firm's flagship assembly plant to private arbitration, permitting it to maneuver ahead in court docket.

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

In a written opinion launched on Tuesday, Kaus said 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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"Principally, Barraza was ambushed," the choose wrote.

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

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

Tesla didn't instantly reply to a request for comment on Tuesday.

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

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

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

Tesla has stated it does not 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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