A judge has denied a motion by Trader Joe’s attorneys to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a young Black woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted from behind by an employee while shopping at the Encino store in 2024, but the plaintiff will have to shore up two of her seven claims.
The woman alleges that the Trader Joe’s worker, Patrick Moya, told her that he liked Black girls. Her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit seeks millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages.
On Thursday, Judge Jerrold Abeles ruled that the woman can proceed with her allegations of include intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, assault, battery and a violation of the Civil Code. The judge said she will have to provide more details to support her remaining causes of action for violations of the Business and Professions Code and of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act.
In addressing Trader Joe’s claim that the plaintiff did not provide evidence of any “extreme and outrageous” conduct to support her allegation of intentional infliction of emotional distress, the judge said the woman had indeed given facts to back up her claim.
“Plaintiff alleges (Trader Joe’s) permitted and condoned an unsafe environment and encouraged sexually and racially harassing conduct,” the judge wrote. “Further, when (Trader Joe’s) learned of the incident, they allegedly did nothing and refused to investigate it. The court cannot conclude as a matter of law that this conduct is not extreme and outrageous.”
According to her suit, the woman was a patron at the Burbank Boulevard store on Feb. 10, 2024, when Moya attacked her without warning from behind, put his hands on her waist, kissed her and whispered on one ear, “You look beautiful today,” the suit states.
“Plaintiff became fearful he would continue to forcibly touch her as he then continued to talk about her as a black girl sex object, stating that he liked Black girls, that Black girls like aggressive men, that he liked to be sexually aggressive and that he wanted to see her without her clothing on,” according to the complaint.
Moya commented on the plaintiff’s clothing and stated that she should “get naked,” the suit filed Feb. 9 further states.
