Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 24 (Reuters) - A California state judge has rejected Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) bid to ship a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment on the firm's flagship assembly plant to personal arbitration, allowing it to maneuver forward in courtroom.

California Superior Court docket Judge 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 said Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to signal an arbitration settlement after she had already give up her earlier job.

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

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

The lawsuit is one in all not less than seven pending in California state court to make comparable claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five more of these circumstances.

Tesla didn't immediately reply to a request for comment on Tuesday.

David Lowe, a lawyer for Barraza, referred to 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 an announcement.

Together with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is facing separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its plants. 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. learn more

Tesla has stated it does not 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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