HOUSTON – Thirteen women have filed lawsuits against multiple companies after they say they contracted an incurable sexually transmitted disease from a janitor who placed his genitals on water bottles and peed in them.
The nighttime janitor, identified as Lucio Diaz, 50, was arrested in October after he was caught on camera rubbing his penis on a water bottle on a woman’s desk at an office building in east Houston, police previously said. Diaz, who was infected with herpes simplex 1, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Recommended Videos
Lawyers state that 14 women who worked in the building have tested positive for the disease, according to a news release from Houston law firm Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner.
They are alleging that the companies “permitted and disregarded the janitor’s disturbing conduct.”
The investigation into Diaz started when a female employee noticed sour-tasting water from a 5-gallon water dispenser in late August. The water dispenser was placed in a common area of the practice and was used by staff and others, according to court documents obtained by KPRC, KSAT’s sister station in Houston.
The woman stopped drinking water from the dispenser and brought a personal water bottle to use.
In late September, the woman left her bottle, which was half filled with water, on her desk. When she drank water from it over the next day or so, she noticed that the water had a bad taste and smell, according to documents.
She threw away the water bottle and purchased a new one. Police said one day, she noticed a yellow-colored liquid inside her new water bottle. Another coworker said she had a similar experience, police said.
Believing it was urine, the employees had the liquid tested and the results confirmed it was urine, documents state.
The woman purchased a security camera and attached it to her computer. She told police that footage showed the janitor, identified as Diaz, place his penis on and inside her bottle and urinate in it, documents state.
He repeated the act twice over a few days, police said.
Lawyers said that the woman gave the building’s management company a copy of the video, and told them she was going to notify the other tenants.
“In response, management asked her not to do that and assured her that they would handle the situation and notify the other tenants. However, no such notification was given, and later that evening, the woman’s hidden camera captured Mr. Diaz doing the exact same thing,” the news release from the law firm states.
It adds that other tenants weren’t notified until Oct. 3.
The women are suing the owner of the building, the building’s management company, the maintenance company and the cleaning company that employed Diaz.
The lawsuit was filed by law firm partner Mo Aziz and attorney Morgan Mills, along with Kimberley Spurlock and Samantha Spencer of Spurlock & Associates, P.C.
Read also:
