Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

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

California Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's motion to compel arbitration in a brief order on Monday.

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

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"Principally, 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 staff, and that the company failed to deal with complaints.

The lawsuit is certainly one of at the least seven pending in California state courtroom to make similar claims towards Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of these circumstances.

Tesla didn't immediately respond 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 might be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe mentioned 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 choose final month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing facility employee who said he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read more

Tesla has said it doesn't 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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.