Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

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

California Superior Courtroom Judge Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's movement to compel arbitration in a short order on Monday.

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

Register

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

Barraza within the lawsuit filed in November claims employees and supervisors at the Fremont, California plant routinely made lewd feedback and gestures to feminine staff, and that the company failed to handle complaints.

The lawsuit is one in every of at least seven pending in California state courtroom to make similar claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 extra of these instances.

Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Tuesday.

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

"Due to this ruling... Tesla shall be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe said in a press release.

Along with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is dealing with separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its plants. A California judge final month awarded $15 million to a Black former factory employee who said 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 workers who engaged in misconduct.

Register

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

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.