According to Bloomberg, a lawsuit accusing Tesla of "rampant" sexual harassment in the workplace will continue in court after a California judge rejected Tesla's arbitration motion** Although the female employee who filed the case signed an arbitration agreement in Tesla, terminating her right to sue, Alameda County High Court judge Stephen Kaus advanced the ruling on Monday.
Jessica barraza filed a lawsuit last year, claiming that she received abuse, obscene comments and improper touch while working as a production assistant at Tesla's Fremont plant in California. Since then, at least seven more female employees have complained about sexual harassment, and some claim that Tesla CEO Elon Musk's suggestive tweets will only make the situation worse.
In a copy of the court documents viewed by the verge, judge Kaus said that barraza was "ambushed" by Tesla's arbitration policy because Tesla did not give "any indication that she must agree to arbitration of employment claims and waive the right to jury trial". "As Bloomberg pointed out, US President Joe Biden signed a bill in March to end compulsory arbitration in sexual assault cases, but since the case began before the bill became law, it does not apply.
"This is a victory for public accountability," barraza's lawyer David Lowe said in a statement. "Because of this ruling, Tesla will not be able to hide behind the closed door of secret arbitration. Instead, Tesla will try in public court by a jury composed of Ms. barraza's peers."
The ruling came as musk faced allegations of sexual misconduct, which were exposed in a recent insider report. It is said that during a company flight, musk sexually harassed a stewardess, including exposing her privacy. SpaceX reportedly paid the stewardess a $250000 sealing fee after she complained to the management.
Musk and his team strongly denied the allegations, which Gwynne shotwell, President of SpaceX, called "wrong" in a company wide email to employees. Musk himself said the allegations were "completely untrue". Musk also claimed that he wrote this article to "interfere with Twitter's acquisition", which he had "Shelved" because of the dispute over the measurement of automatic accounts.
