A California judge has blocked Tesla from ending a long-running state civil rights lawsuit that accuses the electric-vehicle maker of tolerating widespread racial harassment and unequal treatment of Black workers at its factories. The ruling, handed down this week in Alameda County Superior Court, sets the stage for a July trial that could force the company to defend years of employment practices before a jury. The California Civil Rights Department sued Tesla in 2022 after a three-year probe. It claims Black employees faced the n-word so often that some referred to the Fremont plant as a “plantation” and themselves as “slaves.” Supervisors and managers allegedly joined in or looked the other way. Pay gaps, dead-end assignments, and retaliation for complaints round out the accusations. Ars Technica reported the details Tuesday evening. CRD Director Kevin Kish welcomed the decision. “Tesla employment practices remain rooted in some of the ugliest relics of the past,” he said.…