Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Might 24 (Reuters) - A California state choose has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment on the company's flagship meeting plant to non-public arbitration, allowing it to maneuver ahead in courtroom.

California Superior Court docket 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 sign an arbitration agreement after she had already stop her earlier job.

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"Principally, Barraza was ambushed," the choose wrote.

Barraza in the lawsuit filed in November claims staff and supervisors on the Fremont, California plant routinely made lewd comments and gestures to female workers, and that the company failed to address complaints.

The lawsuit is one of at least seven pending in California state court docket to make similar claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five more of these instances.

Tesla didn't immediately reply to a request for touch upon Tuesday.

David Lowe, a lawyer for Barraza, called 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 an announcement.

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

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, Modifying by Rosalba O'Brien

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