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 at the company's flagship assembly plant to private arbitration, permitting it to move ahead in courtroom.

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 launched on Tuesday, Kaus stated 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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"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 comments and gestures to female workers, and that the company failed to deal with complaints.

The lawsuit is one among at the very least seven pending in California state courtroom to make similar claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of those instances.

Tesla didn't immediately reply to a request for touch upon Tuesday.

David Lowe, a lawyer for Barraza, called the choice "a victory for public accountability."

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

Together with the pending sexual harassment claims, Tesla is dealing with separate lawsuits accusing it of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its plants. A California decide 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 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, Enhancing by Rosalba O'Brien

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