Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Might 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, allowing it to move ahead in court docket.

California Superior Court docket Judge Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's motion 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 agreement after she had already stop her previous job.

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

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

The lawsuit is certainly one of no less than seven pending in California state courtroom to make related claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of these instances.

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

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

"Due to this ruling... Tesla might be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's peers in a public courtroom," Lowe stated in a statement.

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

Tesla has said it doesn't tolerate harassment and has disciplined and fired employees 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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