Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Might 24 (Reuters) - A California state choose has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at the firm's flagship assembly plant to private arbitration, allowing it to maneuver ahead in court docket.

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

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

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

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

The lawsuit is considered one of at the very least seven pending in California state courtroom to make related claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five extra of those cases.

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

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

"Because of this ruling... Tesla shall be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe mentioned in an announcement.

Along with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is dealing with separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its crops. A California decide last month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing unit worker 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 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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