Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 24 (Reuters) - A California state judge has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment on the firm's flagship assembly plant to non-public arbitration, allowing it to maneuver forward in court.

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 mentioned Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to sign an arbitration agreement after she had already give up her previous job.

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

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

The lawsuit is certainly one of at the least seven pending in California state courtroom to make similar claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five more of these instances.

Tesla didn't instantly reply 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 can be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's peers in a public courtroom," Lowe said in a press release.

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

Tesla has mentioned 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, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien

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