A three-year effort by Salesforce.com Inc. to avoid a trial involving alleged sex trafficking victims was blocked by a Texas Supreme Court decision to deny a writ of mandamus.

The state supreme court ruling allows the alleged trafficking survivors to proceed in a Harris County district court with their allegations that Salesforce, a cloud-based software company, violated Chapter 98 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code by knowingly benefitting from participating in a venture engaged in sex trafficking.