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 firm's flagship meeting plant to private arbitration, permitting it to move ahead in court docket.

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

In a written opinion released on Tuesday, Kaus mentioned Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to signal an arbitration agreement after she had already quit her previous job.

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"Basically, 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 feedback and gestures to feminine employees, and that the corporate failed to handle complaints.

The lawsuit is one in all not less than seven pending in California state court docket to make similar claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five more of those circumstances.

Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for touch upon Tuesday.

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

"Due to this ruling... Tesla will probably be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe stated in an announcement.

Together with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is facing 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 mentioned he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read more

Tesla has stated it doesn't tolerate harassment and has disciplined and fired workers who engaged in misconduct.

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Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Enhancing by Rosalba O'Brien

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