Tesla loses bid to move sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration

May 24 (Reuters) - A California state decide 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, allowing it to move forward in court docket.

California Superior Courtroom Judge 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 agreement after she had already quit her earlier job.

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

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

The lawsuit is certainly one of no less than seven pending in California state court to make related claims in opposition to Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of these cases.

Tesla didn't instantly reply 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 peers in a public courtroom," Lowe stated in a press release.

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

Tesla has mentioned 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, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien

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