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 company's flagship meeting plant to personal arbitration, allowing it to move ahead in courtroom.

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

In a written opinion launched on Tuesday, Kaus said 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 choose 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 staff, and that the corporate failed to address complaints.

The lawsuit is one among at the very least seven pending in California state courtroom to make comparable claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five more of those cases.

Tesla didn't instantly reply 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 can be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's peers in a public courtroom," Lowe stated in an announcement.

Together with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is going through separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its vegetation. A California decide final month awarded $15 million to a Black former factory worker who said he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. learn extra

Tesla has stated 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, Enhancing by Rosalba O'Brien

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