Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 24 (Reuters) - A California state choose has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment on the company's flagship meeting plant to personal arbitration, allowing it to maneuver forward in courtroom.

California Superior Court docket Decide Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's movement 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 sign an arbitration settlement after she had already quit her earlier job.

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

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

The lawsuit is one in all at the very least seven pending in California state court to make related claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 extra of these circumstances.

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

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

"Due to this ruling... Tesla will likely 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 facing separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its plants. A California choose final month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing facility employee who stated he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read more

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, Enhancing by Rosalba O'Brien

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