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 send a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at the firm's flagship meeting plant to personal arbitration, permitting it to move ahead in court.

California Superior Court 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 said Tesla had improperly pressured the plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, to sign an arbitration settlement after she had already stop her earlier job.

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

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

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

Tesla did not instantly respond to a request for touch upon Tuesday.

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

"Because of this ruling... Tesla will probably be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's peers 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 plants. A California decide last month awarded $15 million to a Black former manufacturing unit employee who stated he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read extra

Tesla has said 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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