In California, a state judge ruled against Tesla on May 24, allowing a sexual harassment lawsuit to move forward without private arbitration.
The plaintiff, Jessica Barraza, alleged that Tesla failed to address complaints by her and other female employees about a “pervasive culture of sexual harassment” at the company’s Fremont, California plant.
Barraza signed an arbitration agreement with Tesla, whereby any disputes between herself and the company would be mediated outside of civil court, meaning the proceedings would remain private.
Tesla filed a motion to compel Barraza to submit to arbitration, but Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus denied that motion Monday. He took issue with how Barraza came to sign the arbitration agreement, which Tesla included as a clause in her “official” offer letter in the final stage of the hiring process.
According to court documents, Kaus reasoned, “Basically, Barraza was ambushed. She had gone through extensive pre-employment activities, had been offered a job, signed multiple forms, and had left her previous employment in reliance on [a job] offer, all without Tesla giving any indication that she would have to agree to arbitrate employment claims and give up her right to a jury trial [in order to actually be hired].”
As of Tuesday, May 25, Tesla has not responded to multiple media requests for comment.
Since Barraza initially filed her lawsuit in November 2021, seven more women from the Fremont factory filed sexual-harassment claims of their own.
A common refrain emerged from some of the plaintiffs following the slew of lawsuit filings, suggesting Tesla CEO Elon Musk is at least partially responsible for the company’s “hostile” culture because he occasionally tweeted jokes of a sexual nature.
Musk repeatedly indulged in a joke on Twitter and in-person, and even on Tesla Motor’s official Twitter account, in which he would point out that Tesla’s vehicle lineup spelled “S3XY.”
Former Tesla employee and current litigant Eden Mederos told the Washington Post, “When they were rumoring that the Model Y was coming out and it was sexy…around that time, everything got worse.” She claimed male coworkers and supervisors engaged in more sexual harassment.
Musk also tweeted a joke about founding a university after part of the female anatomy.
Discussing Musk’s tweets with the Washington Post, Barraza commented, “That doesn’t set a good example for the factory — it almost gives it like an … ‘he’s tweeting about it, it has to be okay.'”
“It’s not fair to myself, to my family, to other women who are working there,” she added.
Tesla maintains that it does not tolerate any harassment in the workplace and has disciplined and/or fired employees who engage in such misconduct.