Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Might 24 (Reuters) - A California state decide has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment on the company's flagship meeting plant to personal arbitration, allowing it to maneuver ahead in courtroom.

California Superior Court Choose Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's motion 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 stop her previous job.

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

Barraza within the lawsuit filed in November claims staff and supervisors at the Fremont, California plant routinely made lewd comments and gestures to female staff, and that the corporate failed to handle complaints.

The lawsuit is one in every of not less than seven pending in California state court to make similar claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of these circumstances.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on 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 friends 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 crops. A California choose last month awarded $15 million to a Black former factory employee who mentioned he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. learn extra

Tesla has said it does not 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

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