Office janitor urinated in employee water bottles leading to 13 women testing positive for STD: lawsuit

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Multiple companies in Texas are facing a lawsuit for employing a janitor accused of urinating into employee water bottles and thereby infecting more than a dozen victims with sexually transmitted diseases. 

The lawsuit, stemming from the October arrest of janitor Lucio Catarino Diaz, was filed on behalf of 13 women who say the janitor urinated in their water bottles on the job in an East Houston office building which resulted in positive tests for the herpes simplex 1 virus, KRIV-TV reported.

In a press release, Houston law firm Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner alleges that the companies employing the 50-year-old janitor "permitted and disregarded the janitor’s disturbing conduct."

The lawsuit says that several women noticed their water bottles "smelling and tasting foul" in August 2022, which prompted a woman to set up a hidden camera that captured Diaz approaching her desk, setting his supplies down, and "rub his penis on the interior and mouth of a water bottle."

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Janitor Lucio Catarino Diaz has admitted to rubbing his genitals on the water bottles of female employees. (KRIV-TV)

The woman says she sent the video to the building’s management company, and she was told something would be done about it. However, according to the law firm's press release, no action was taken and Diaz was captured later on video doing the same thing.

Six days later, on Oct. 3, tenants in the building were notified of the incidents.

"It’s not only terrifying but somewhat humiliating for them," said Kimberly Spurlock, the attorney who represents one of the women.

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Text messages between the victim and Building Management. (Houston Law Firm Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner)

"He was allowed to come back in, and he continued to conduct himself this way and who knows how many people picked up their water bottles during that six days and were affected by his actions," Spurlock added.

Diaz has admitted to the crimes and was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The janitor’s bodily fluids containing the incurable STD were considered a weapon in the charges.

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Downtown Houston city skyline over Root Square. (iStock)

Four women filed the initial lawsuit against the owner of the building, the building’s management company, the maintenance company and the cleaning company, and they were later joined by nine other women.