Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

Could 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 meeting plant to private arbitration, allowing it to maneuver forward in court docket.

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

In a written opinion released on Tuesday, Kaus mentioned Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to sign an arbitration settlement after she had already give up her previous job.

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

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

The lawsuit is considered one of a minimum of seven pending in California state court docket to make related claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over five extra of those cases.

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

David Lowe, a lawyer for Barraza, known as the choice "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 stated in a press release.

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

Tesla has stated 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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.