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 ship a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at the firm's flagship assembly plant to personal arbitration, allowing it to move ahead in courtroom.

California Superior Courtroom Decide Stephen Kaus in Oakland denied Tesla's motion 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 agreement after she had already stop her earlier job.

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

Barraza in the lawsuit filed in November claims employees and supervisors on the Fremont, California plant routinely made lewd feedback and gestures to female workers, and that the company failed to deal with complaints.

The lawsuit is one in all at the least seven pending in California state court docket to make related claims against Tesla. Kaus is presiding over 5 more of these circumstances.

Tesla didn't instantly reply to a request for comment on Tuesday.

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

"Because of this ruling... Tesla will probably be judged by a jury of Ms. Barraza's friends in a public courtroom," Lowe stated in an announcement.

Together 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 factory worker who mentioned he was subjected to racist slurs and graffiti from coworkers. read extra

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

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