Plaintiff Corrects Store Location, Manager Name in Trader Joe's Assault Lawsuit

The plaintiff's attorneys filed corrected court papers on April 2 identifying Michael Rainer as the Trader Joe's Encino store manager on duty during an alleged 2024 sexual assault, replacing an earlier filing that had named a different individual who had never managed the Encino location and had left the company entirely in January 2021, three years before the alleged incident, according to a sworn declaration the man filed in the case. In earlier pleadings, the same attorneys had corrected a second error: the original complaint had placed the alleged attack at the Chatsworth store rather than at the Encino location on Burbank Boulevard.

The lawsuit, filed February 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court and assigned to Judge Jerrold Abeles, now has both the correct store and the correct manager on the record as named parties in the negligence claims.

The underlying allegations are unchanged. The plaintiff, a young Black woman, alleges that on February 10, 2024, a Trader Joe's crew member then identified only as Patrick "Doe" attacked her from behind without warning, placed his hands on her waist, and kissed her. The corrected April 2 filing identifies that crew member as Patrick Moya. According to the complaint, Moya then directed racially and sexually charged statements at the plaintiff, describing her in sexual terms as a Black woman and expressing a preference for physical aggression. The suit further alleges that management condoned the conduct. Causes of action include intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, assault, battery, and violations of California's Civil Code, Business and Professions Code, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act. The plaintiff seeks millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages.

No trial date has been set and no ruling tied to the April 2 filings has been issued. The case remains in its pretrial phase before Judge Abeles.

The corrected filings carry real operational weight for crew at the Encino store and for managers anywhere in the company tracking the case. Naming a specific manager in a negligence claim typically triggers document preservation requests, and stores active in civil litigation often receive visits from corporate legal, HR, or risk-management teams. Managers and crew may be asked to submit statements or retain records connected to the incident. Anyone contacted by outside parties about the case should consult store management or regional HR before responding, and media inquiries should be routed to the company's designated PR contact rather than handled at the store level.

Trader Joe's corporate has not publicly addressed the lawsuit or announced any changes to safety protocols at the Encino store.