Tesla Inc. must keep defending itself in open court against claims that female employees face ‘rampant sexual harassment’ in its largest California factory, a judge ruled, spurning the company’s request for closed-door arbitration.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus ruled Monday that the worker who filed the complaint can proceed with her case -- even though she signed an arbitration agreement giving up her right to sue.
Tesla never brought up or presented the arbitration agreement until after Barraza quit her previous job, believing she was hired by the electric vehicle-maker and had completed all the required paper work, Kaus said in his ruling.
‘Tesla either orchestrated this sequence of events on purpose or was unacceptably indifferent to the situation in which this placed Barraza,’ Kaus said. ‘Basically, Barraza was ambushed.’