Tesla loses bid to move 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 ahead in court docket.

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

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

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

Barraza within the lawsuit filed in November claims employees and supervisors on the Fremont, California plant routinely made lewd feedback and gestures to feminine staff, and that the corporate failed to handle complaints.

The lawsuit is one in all at the very least seven pending in California state court docket to make comparable claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five more of those cases.

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

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

"Because of this ruling... Tesla can be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe stated in a statement.

Together with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is facing separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its crops. A California judge last month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing facility worker who mentioned he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. learn extra

Tesla has stated it does not 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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