A woman has settled her lawsuit against a company that features trading cards with attractive women instead of sports figures in which she alleged she was forced to resign because of ongoing sexual harassment and a poor working environment, which allegedly culminated with a company executive raping her at his Dana Point home.
The woman is identified only as Jane Doe in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed against Bench Warmer International Inc. that alleged sexual battery and harassment, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and multiple state Labor Code violations.
On Monday, her attorneys filed court papers with Judge Daniel Murphy notifying him of an “unconditional” settlement in the case. No terms were divulged.
In their previous court papers, Bench Warmer attorneys denied Doe’s allegations, said they belonged in the workers’ compensation arena and were barred by the plaintiff’s “ratification and/or consent to the alleged acts.”
Doe worked for Bench Warmer from 2008-20 and was rehired in 2024. During her second stint with the company, she often worked 36 hours straight organizing, wrapping and packing trading cards featuring attractive women, the suit stated.
Doe said she accepted an executive’s invitation to stay in a guest bedroom at his Dana Point home because of her long hours and long commute. But the man made crude remarks, including inviting a female friend of the plaintiff who was visiting to join the two of them for a “threesome,” which the women rejected, according to the suit.
After retiring to her guest room after a Thanksgiving dinner in 2024, Doe was awakened by the executive, who entered the room, overpowered the plaintiff and sexually assaulted her despite her pleas to stop and her warnings that his high blood pressure would worsen, the suit stated.
“Moments later, Jane Doe’s consciousness slowly began to dim until she lost consciousness entirely,” according to the suit.
In the subsequent days, Doe suffered from physical and emotional injuries, including severe pains in her abdomen and inability to use the restroom, the suit states. When the executive allegedly told Doe last Dec. 1, “I feel like I may have attacked you or something,” Doe replied, “You did,” according to the suit, which further states that conditions were so intolerable for Doe that she was forced to resign.
Sheriff’s deputies who took a report from Doe told her that other women had made similar allegations against the executive, the suit stated.
At the time of the filing of her lawsuit on March 13, Doe said she was still suffering from anxiety, depression, insomnia, humiliation, anger and stress.