Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 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 meeting plant to private arbitration, allowing it to move forward in court docket.

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

In a written opinion released on Tuesday, Kaus stated Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to sign an arbitration settlement 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 employees and supervisors at the Fremont, California plant routinely made lewd comments and gestures to feminine workers, and that the corporate failed to address complaints.

The lawsuit is one among at the very least seven pending in California state court to make similar claims towards Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of these instances.

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

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

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

Along 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 unit worker who stated he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read extra

Tesla has mentioned 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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