Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Could 24 (Reuters) - A California state choose has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to ship a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment on the company's flagship assembly plant to private arbitration, allowing it to move forward in courtroom.

California Superior Courtroom Choose 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 mentioned Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to sign an arbitration agreement after she had already quit her earlier job.

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

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

The lawsuit is one in all at the least seven pending in California state courtroom to make comparable claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of those circumstances.

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

David Lowe, a lawyer for Barraza, known as the choice "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 said in an announcement.

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

Tesla has mentioned 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, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien

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