Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 24 (Reuters) - A California state judge has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to ship a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment on the firm's flagship meeting plant to non-public arbitration, permitting it to move ahead in courtroom.

California Superior Courtroom Decide Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's movement to compel arbitration in a quick order on Monday.

In a written opinion released on Tuesday, Kaus said Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to signal an arbitration agreement after she had already quit her previous job.

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

Barraza in the lawsuit filed in November claims workers 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 of at least seven pending in California state court to make comparable claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five extra of these cases.

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

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

"Because of this ruling... Tesla will be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's peers in a public courtroom," Lowe mentioned in a statement.

Together 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 final month awarded $15 million to a Black former factory employee who stated he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. learn extra

Tesla has mentioned 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, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien

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