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 company's flagship assembly plant to personal arbitration, allowing it to maneuver ahead in court.

California Superior Court Decide Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's motion to compel arbitration in a quick 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 quit her earlier job.

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

Barraza within 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 corporate failed to deal with complaints.

The lawsuit is one in all no less than seven pending in California state court to make related claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five extra of those cases.

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 will likely be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's peers 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 vegetation. A California decide 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 said 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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