Tesla loses bid to maneuver sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 24 (Reuters) - A California state choose 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, permitting it to maneuver forward in courtroom.

California Superior Court docket 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 stated Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to sign an arbitration agreement after she had already stop her previous job.

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

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

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

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

David Lowe, a lawyer for Barraza, referred to as the decision "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 stated in a press release.

Along with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is going through separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its crops. A California judge last month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing facility worker who stated he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read more

Tesla has stated it doesn't tolerate harassment and has disciplined and fired staff 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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