Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Could 24 (Reuters) - A California state choose has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at the company's flagship assembly plant to non-public arbitration, permitting it to move ahead in court.

California Superior Court docket 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 mentioned 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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"Basically, Barraza was ambushed," the decide wrote.

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

The lawsuit is one in all at the very least seven pending in California state courtroom to make related claims towards Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of these 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."

"Because of this ruling... Tesla can 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 vegetation. A California judge last month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing facility employee who stated he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. learn extra

Tesla has mentioned 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, Modifying by Rosalba O'Brien

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.