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 ship a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment on the company's flagship assembly plant to personal arbitration, allowing it to maneuver ahead in court.

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

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

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"Principally, Barraza was ambushed," the decide 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 corporate failed to address complaints.

The lawsuit is considered one of a minimum of seven pending in California state courtroom to make related claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five more of these circumstances.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

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

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

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

Tesla has stated 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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