NYC woman attacked during ‘white glove delivery’ of Macy’s mattress: suit

0
NYC woman attacked during ‘white glove delivery’ of Macy’s mattress: suit

By Julia Marsh

Sent in from: Catrlos

A Queens woman selected the “white glove delivery service” when she purchased a $2,400 mattress at Macy’s Herald Square — only to be sexually assaulted by the deliveryman after the retail giant subcontracted the job to a day laborer from an unlicensed trucking company, a new lawsuit charges.

“I was in hysterics,” the 46-year-old victim told The Post, recounting a phone conversation with a Macy’s customer service agent immediately after the terrifying March 7 incident.

“I told her my name and told her that I just had a delivery of this mattress and they needed to get this guy off the road right away because he’d tried to rape me,” said the woman, who’s identified as “Jane Doe” in the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.

The victim, an executive assistant who works across the street from the Macy’s Manhattan flagship, splurged on an Aireloom Hybrid luxury mattress during the President’s Day sale earlier this year.

She opted for the “white glove delivery service” and “worry no more” mattress protection plan that included delivery, setup and removal of her old furniture.

The woman, who lives alone, let two deliverymen who said they were from Macy’s into her apartment around noon on March 7, her suit says. One of the men brought her old mattress outside to the truck.

A receipt shows the woman paid for Macy's Worry No More Plan, bedding removal and the mattress on February 15, 2021.
A receipt shows the woman paid for Macy’s Worry No More Plan, bedding removal and the mattress on February 15, 2021.

The other stayed behind, cornered her in her bedroom, and grabbed her breasts, she said.

“I tried to shove him off. I’m saying, ‘No! What are you doing? Get out! Stop,’” she recalled. “And he wouldn’t.

“I tried to keep myself calm and to just come out of there alive. My main goal was not to get hurt, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I also had heard him cutting up the plastic [on the mattress] with something sharp. It was a box cutter or something,” she said, noting that she’d recently had surgery to her Achilles tendon and wasn’t able to run.

The deliveryman put her hand on his penis and his mouth on her breast. When he tried to force himself on her, she told him he couldn’t because she’d had her period.

“He stopped,” she recalled.

Before leaving, “He looked me in the face and said, ‘This is just between us,” she recounted through tears.

She called the police after phoning Macy’s and was brought to a local hospital for a DNA swab since the deliveryman had put his mouth on her breast, she said.

VJ Trucking was based in Elizabeth, NJ and tasked with delivering the mattress. The trucking company handled general freight and is listed "out of service" with the United States Department of Transportation.
VJ Trucking LLC was based in Elizabeth, NJ and tasked with delivering the mattress. The trucking company handled general freight and is listed “out of service” with the United States Department of Transportation.

But there was no match with existing DNA records, and the detective on the case said it was closed one month later because they were not able to identify the deliveryman, according to the victim’s lawyer, Susan Karten.

The detective did not return messages from The Post.

Macy’s had subcontracted the job to NEHDS Logistics, which in turn handed the work over to VJ Trucking LLC. The Elizabeth, NJ, outfit is listed as “out of service” with the US Department of Transportation, the suit says.

“She remains in constant fear of her attacker” and is suing Macy’s and the two trucking companies for $50 million.

The 46-year-old woman is suing Macy's and the trucking companies for $50 million.
The 46-year-old woman is suing Macy’s and the trucking companies for $50 million.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Reps for Macy’s and NEHDS Logistics didn’t return messages. The number for VJ Trucking LLC is not in service.

“There are many women in this city who open the door for deliverymen trusting that the company having the products delivered has vetted the delivery man, Karten said.

“This can happen to anybody,” she said.

Macy's "white glove delivery" receipt
Macy’s “white glove delivery” service promises delivery, set-up, inspection and demonstration of merchandise.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/02/nyc-woman-attacked-during-white-glove-delivery-of-macys-mattress-suit/

About Post Author

Discover more from The News Beyond Detroit

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading