Tesla Inc. has asked a U.S. court to affirm an arbitrator’s recent decision dismissing a former engineer’s claims that the automaker fired and defamed her for raising concerns about defective floormats and contracting practices. In a petition filed in San Francisco federal court on Thursday, Tesla said an arbitrator in a Nov. 3 decision found Cristina Balan’s claims that the company falsely accused her of criminal conduct in response to a 2017 Huffington Post article about her firing were untimely. In March, a California-based appeals court ruled that Balan was required to arbitrate the defamation claims because they were directly related to her employment with Tesla. The company on Thursday asked the court to confirm the arbitrator’s decision, which opens the door for Balan to challenge it. Balan said in an email on Friday that she would seek to vacate the arbitration award “due to fraud, corruption, bias … and …