Sexual harassment suit filed against Aaron’s

A former Aaron’s employee has sued rent-to-own retailer Aaron’s seeking $675 million, and she has hired as her attorney a lawyer who netted a $95 million verdict against the Atlanta-based company last summer.

In the civil suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Monday, the former employee claims that she was sexually harassed by the general manager at the Bainbridge, Ga. store where she worked. The suit also claims Aaron’s showed negligence in responding to complaints. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.

A spokeswoman for Aaron’s said the company had not seen the allegations, and therefore had no comment.

The previous suit, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, was reduced to $39.8 million because of caps on such judgments. Aaron’s eventually settled it for $6 million.

The attorney, David Ratner at the New York law firm Morelli Ratner, said the second suit would not have a cap. He said the claims show a pattern of unresponsiveness to sexual harassment complaints by the company.

“We’re looking forward to presenting the case to the jury,” he said.