Perverts are allegedly sexually assaulting people in Dollar Tree stores, and according to a lawsuit filed in El Paso County, Colorado, the chronically understaffed company is doing next to nothing about the alleged “gooning” epidemic happening in its aisles.
The lawsuit alleges that Dollar Tree’s habit of running stores with skeleton crews, often just a single employee sitting behind a cash register, has effectively turned the national chain into a public masturbator free-for-all. As expected, there were a lot of odd, dumb names for this horrific act — “sharking” or “nut-and-dash” among them. All describe basically the same event: men allegedly ejaculate on unsuspecting and unconsenting shoppers, sometimes filming it and posting the videos in their online forum of choice.
A recent deep, thorough dive into this disturbing world by The Guardian revealed a subculture that spins these assaults into a variety of jokes at the victim’s expense, turning their trauma into memes, SoundCloud tracks, and even crypto coins, the currency of choice for the discerning sex criminal.
A Lawsuit Claims Dollar Tree’s Understaffed Stores Have Become Targets for Sexual Predators
Legal filings dug up by The Guardian showed dozens of such assaults allegedly happening across the country, where women, sometimes accompanied by children, are supposedly being targeted in unmonitored Dollar Tree aisles. And even with all the recent press and lawsuits, Dollar Tree has seemingly done little to remedy the situation.
Subpar surveillance systems are allegedly not being upgraded, and security guards are not being hired. Dollar Tree also has supposedly not brought in additional staff to monitor employees. There are even cases of repeat offenders walking back into stores. In one instance, Dollar Tree allegedly never coughed up the footage of the assault for police review, leaving the victim in limbo as officials had no evidence they could use to launch a proper investigation.
Speaking to The Guardian, Dollar Tree claims it takes this criminality seriously and cooperates with law enforcement; attorneys representing victims argue the company prioritizes profit margins over basic customer safety.
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