Dollar Tree is being sued by a Houston woman who was sexually assaulted in a store

A Houston woman is suing Dollar Tree, claiming the company’s negligence contributed to her being sexually assaulted at one of its stores in 2023.

The sexual assault occurred on Dec. 5 at a Dollar Tree in Houston when the woman went into the discount store to purchase items for an upcoming work event, according to a court document filed in Harris County. While the woman was browsing in one of the aisles, an unidentified man approached her from behind and began “saying sexually explicit things to her,” according to the complaint.

“Disgusted” by the comments, the woman rushed away from the man, found her friend in the store and told her they had to “go,” the court document says. As the woman was paying for her purchases at the cash register, she saw the man leave the store and ride away on a bicycle, the petition says.

As the woman got into her car, her friend pointed out that she had a substance on the back of her sweatshirt, the petition states. The woman quickly realized that the man at the Dollar Tree had sexually harassed her while making “vulgar comments” to her inside the store.

“All the shocked woman could think about was going home, changing her clothes, taking a shower and putting the dirty, disturbing encounter out of her mind,” the petition states.

A company spokesperson told USA TODAY that Dollar Tree was “aware of the lawsuit” and “cannot comment on the pending litigation.”

“You can be assured that we take the situation very seriously and are committed to providing our customers with a safe shopping environment,” the company spokesman said.

Dollar Tree employee: “We got another one”

When the woman got home, she called her sister, a police officer, who told her she needed to “secure the evidence and report the incident,” court documents say.

After the woman called her sister, she and her friend went back to the Dollar Tree and reported the sexual assault to one of the store’s clerks, the petition says. After the woman told the clerk, she shouted to her manager in the back room, “We have one more,” the petition says.

The clerk then informed the woman that this was “the third assault in this store within four days by a man who matched the physical description of the perpetrator,” the petition continues.

According to the petition, the woman immediately called police after speaking with the officer. When officers arrived, the woman explained what happened and handed them towels with the alleged attacker’s DNA on them, the petition states.

There is no footage of the attack, despite cameras in the Dollar Tree

A security guard who worked at the mall confirmed to the woman that there had been similar incidents before her attack, the petition states. The security guard drove the woman through the mall to see if she could identify the attacker, but she was unable to, according to court documents.

Although the clerk had previously told the woman that there were cameras at the Dollar Tree, the store manager denied that there was any footage of the incident, the petition states.

Since the sexual assault, the woman has suffered “severe mental anguish, emotional distress and trauma,” the petition states. Her symptoms include “nightmares, significant anxiety, fearfulness and distrust of others, especially men,” the petition continues.

According to court documents, the woman is seeking damages of over one million dollars.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dollar Tree sued: Houston woman claims she was sexually harassed at store