A cashier at a New York Dollar Tree store endured “severe and pervasive” sexual harassment by her manager, who sexually accosted her at work, uninvited, “on a near daily basis,” according to a federal lawsuit obtained by The Independent.

In a civil complaint filed June 23, Nasushon Taylor alleges the trouble began almost immediately after she started work in January 2024, but says higher-ups did nothing about it.

“[D]uring her first month of employment… [the store manager] would regularly come up behind [Taylor] while [she] was at her register and press his waist to [her] rear end, reach behind [Taylor] to pin her to the register, and press the front of his pants directly against [her] rear end, using the guise of entering his manager pin code into the register,” the complaint states.

It says the inappropriate behavior even occurred on days when the manager was not on the schedule, and would come into the store on his days off “in order to pursue his advances toward [Taylor] and make excuses to physically touch her.”

When he wasn’t grinding against Taylor, the manager “constantly reached across [her] chest, touching her while typing the touch screen connected to [her] register, using any excuse to gain access to [her] space,” the complaint alleges.

During Taylor’s first days on the job, the manager soon asked her if she “had a man,” gave her his phone number and “listed a number of ‘accomplishments’ and qualities that he thought would impress” her, the complaint goes on.

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“In response, [Taylor] politely advised [the manager] that she was not interested in having any type of romantic relationship with him, to which [he] advised that he was looking for love,” it continues.

Still, the complaint contends, the manager asked Taylor out on dates ‘approximately three to four times per week, for a total of approximately 50 separate occasions,” even as she continually rejected his entreaties, the complaint says.

If Taylor was helpful to a male customer, the manager at the store in Queens, New York, would get upset, telling her that she “should not be so friendly” to them, according to the complaint, while never criticizing other employees for being nice to Dollar Tree shoppers.

Although Taylor firmly rejected her manager’s “incessant sexual and romantic overtures,” and made clear that she had no interest in dating him, the situation eventually got so bad that she purchased a fake engagement ring to wear at work, hoping that her pursuer would believe she was otherwise involved and back off, the complaint continues.

However, the complaint says the ploy backfired, resulting in the manager slashing Taylor’s hours from 30 hours a week to 20 hours or less.

Taylor reported the situation to Human Resources on “several occasions,” but never got a response, according to the complaint. Instead, it claims the manager then started to “manufacture disciplinary issues” as a form of revenge. He invented allegations of theft, arguing that he spotted Taylor swiping $25 as she closed out her cash drawer – which the complaint calls a fabrication.

A colleague who was apparently loyal to the manager also falsely accused Taylor of shorting her register, by $9, in an attempt to sabotage her, the complaint states.

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By May 2024, the complaint says Taylor’s working conditions had become utterly intolerable, and that she had not gotten any response from HR. Convinced she was about to be fired, Taylor felt she had no choice but to resign, according to the complaint.

Taylor quickly found a new job at White Castle, where the Dollar Tree manager promptly found her and became a regular presence “despite not having a legitimate reason for being there.” He showed up on May 17, 2024, June 7, 2024, June 17, 2024, July 17, 2024, and July 24, 2024, and “even requested that [Taylor] provide him with [her] employee discount, which [she] refused to do,” the complaint maintains.

In addition to the manager appearing at White Castle, friends and associates of the manager would show up too, in an attempt to “harass and intimidate,” with one woman “even spitting on” Taylor, according to the complaint.

Taylor filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September 2024, and received a right to sue letter in March 2026, the complaint says.

Her experience closely mirrors that of a former line cook at an Olive Garden restaurant in Baltimore, who sued the chain in 2024 over allegations that a male coworker went out of his way to rub his groin against her backside while at work, sometimes doing it “more than 20 times in a single 8-hour shift,” according to court filings in that case.

The cook’s complaint said she reported the harassment to management, who told her the man knew “not to do it again,” but that he would not be terminated.

Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, Dollar Tree operates more than 15,000 discount stores across North America.

The company was served with a summons on June 24. A Dollar Tree spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

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