Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Could 24 (Reuters) - A California state decide 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, permitting it to maneuver forward in courtroom.

California Superior Court docket Choose 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 signal an arbitration settlement after she had already quit her previous job.

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

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

The lawsuit is considered one of at the least seven pending in California state courtroom to make related claims towards Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of these instances.

Tesla did not instantly reply to a request for touch upon Tuesday.

David Lowe, a lawyer for Barraza, called the choice "a victory for public accountability."

"Due to this ruling... Tesla can be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe mentioned in a statement.

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

Tesla has said it does not tolerate harassment and has disciplined and fired workers 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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