Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Could 24 (Reuters) - A California state judge has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment on the company's flagship meeting plant to private arbitration, permitting it to move ahead in courtroom.

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

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

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

Barraza in the lawsuit filed in November claims workers and supervisors on 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 in every of at the least seven pending in California state court to make comparable claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five more of those instances.

Tesla did not instantly respond to a request for touch upon Tuesday.

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

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

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 final month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing facility worker who mentioned he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. learn more

Tesla has stated it does not tolerate harassment and has disciplined and fired workers 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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