In a surprising turn of events, the Connecticut-based grocery chain Stew Leonard’s has finally resolved a long-standing lawsuit involving a former employee who was accused of stealing female coworkers’ underwear. The settlement was reached just as the decade-spanning legal battle was on the brink of going to trial.
The lawsuit, which dates back to 2019, was initiated by two women who accused the supermarket giant of negligence. They argued that the company had failed in its duty by employing Robert M. Brown, a convicted burglar with a notorious history of stealing panties—an illicit habit he had reportedly engaged in since high school, according to a report by the Greenwich Time.
Brown, hailing from Burlington, had allegedly broken into the women’s homes, rummaged through their drawers, and made off with bags full of their undergarments. This audacious crime led to a legal case that lingered in the court system for seven long years, becoming one of the oldest unresolved cases on the docket of the Bridgeport Judicial District Courthouse.
Stew Leonard Jr., the CEO of the grocery chain, expressed relief over the settlement, stating, “After seven years, we are happy we have reached an agreement and settled.”
While the specifics of the settlement remain confidential, the resolution marks the end of a protracted legal saga that has cast a shadow over the popular supermarket brand.
Details of the deal were not released publicly.
Brown pulled off the first heist in 2018 by tracking down a coworker’s home address through a broken file cabinet at the store, according to the court docs. He then swiped her house key from an unlocked office, and let himself into her Wethersfield home, where he slipped off his shoes, wandered around, and left with a shopping bag full of her unmentionables.
She recognized her Stew Leonard’s colleague as the culprit when she reviewed her own home security footage.
A second woman said Brown grabbed her house key from an unsecured locker room and hit her Wethersfield home, where he snatched her panties the same day.
Stew Leonard’s fought the negligence claims, arguing the break-ins happened off company property and on Brown’s own time, and that it would have been wrong to warn coworkers about his lengthy criminal past.
The serial panty thief was first arrested back in 2006 for stealing underwear and bras from the homes of high school classmates in Harwinton and Burlington. The pervert was convicted, and a follow-up investigation netted him a child pornography conviction that sent him to prison.
For the crimes against his coworkers, he pleaded no contest in 2020 to two counts of third-degree burglary and was sentenced for two years behind bars and five years of probation.
Both victims were in court Wednesday but left without saying a word, according to the local publication. Each woman suffered mental anguish, invasion of privacy, sexual violation, and a lasting blow to their quality of life, they said in the suits.
Brown no longer works at Stew Leonard’s. Both women have moved on to new jobs.
