Employee Attacked by Coworker Says Company Failed to Protect Her

Boone, IA (WorkersCompensation.com) – A convenience store employee who was sexually assaulted by a co-worker is alleging that the store managers knew the perpetrator was a problem before he attacked her.

And when she reported the assault to the police, instead of firing him, she said, they transferred him to another store.

Tracy Lehman was working for a Casey’s convenience store in Boone, Iowa when she was attacked by Gabriel Wolf. According to police reports, Wolf approached Lehman on June 8 and touched her inappropriately from behind. On Sept. 5, a judge found Wolf guilty and sentenced him to 30 days in jail.

Lehman said her employer had a number of chances to prevent the assault. She said staff at the store had told managers that Wolf was a registered sex offender and had repeatedly complained to him about his inappropriate behavior including touching staff and getting into other employee’s personal space. Some workers had asked not to be scheduled alongside him, Lehman said. Lehman provided text messages she said came from other co-workers that proved her allegations to the Des Moines Register.

Iowa records indicate that Wolf was a registered sex offender and had been convicted of lascivious acts with a child in 2021 and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Records show that the victims were no older than 13 and Wolf was at least 19 when the offenses were committed.

Officials said it was not clear if Wolf was honest about his history, or if Casey’s was aware of Wolf’s sex offender status when he was hired. Lehman said one manager had told her that Wolf lied on his application, but another told her that Casey’s “knew about him from the start.” Lehman said she and other co-workers found Wolf’s conduct off-putting.

"He was just odd, weird, always in my space," she told the Des Moines Register. "He would touch the back of my neck, and he was just weird and manipulative. It was just odd, made me very uncomfortable."

Lehman said she is now planning to sue Casey’s and that she has experienced post-traumatic stress and anxiety as a result of the workplace assault.

"My sense of safety is completely annihilated. You're supposed to be safe at work," she said. "Now that basic understanding of safety doesn't exist in me anymore."

In a statement, Casey’s said Wolf was fired after the incident.

“We take the safety of our team members very seriously," a spokesperson said. "Mr. Wolf was terminated in June 2024.”

Lehman’s attorney, Andrew Heiting-Doane, said multiple text messages between the Boone Casey’s store managers discussed complaints about Wolf’s behavior in text messages. The messages also show that managers knew as early as May 14 that he was a sex offender, and that they questioned whether or not he was allowed to work with minors, or near a school building, he said.

Doane said other messages showed that district managers consulted with Casey’s corporate legal office about his work eligibility, with the office later responding that Wolf was allowed to work there because Casey’s is a “second chance” business, but that managers needed to watch him.

Lehman said she asked her managers to not schedule her alone with Wolf, however, during the June 8 closing shift she was scheduled alone with him. That night, he attacked her.

Lehman said she was “in shock” and “numb” after Wolf assaulted her. The next day she returned to work and watched the video on the store’s security cameras and reported what had happened to her managers.

Initially, she was told nothing could be done until Thursday, five days after the assault. When she said she was going to contact the police, store managers asked her to write a statement. Lehman said she reported the assault to the police and obtained a no-contact order against Wolf. Casey’s transferred him to another store.

Lehman said she still works at Casey’s.

"I can't afford just to leave work. I'm a single mom," she said.

But, she said, she doesn’t feel safe working with anyone alone or working night shifts, and fears the store might hire other sex offenders who would threaten her safety. And, she said, she has not received any support from Casey’s. The chain denied her request for short-term disability or for time off through the Family Medical Leave Act.

She said she thinks the company should have fired Wolf once his record was revealed, especially if he lied to get the job.

Lehman said she’s planning on filing a complaint against Casey’s because she worries other employees in the company’s thousands of locations may face the same assaults.

"That's my biggest question as well, is, how many times has this happened?" she said. "How many times is this happening every day, where that happens and they don't take it seriously and transfer them to another store?"

Casey’s has more than 2,900 stores in Iowa, Missouri, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Illinois with plans to add more throughout the south. It is the third largest convenience chain in the country.

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