Nebraska Furniture Mart sued after contractor installing carpet molested KC-area girl
Relatives of an 8-year-old Kansas City-area girl are suing Nebraska Furniture Mart after a contractor the store sent to install carpeting at her grandparents’ house sexually molested her.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Cass County Circuit Court, accuses the furniture company of failing to conduct a thorough background check on Enrique Lopez-Martinez, who was employed by a flooring company NFM contracted with to do the removal of old carpeting and installation of new.
Lopez-Martinez, 63, went to the home with Pedro Tapia, of Tapia Flooring, the suit alleges, to install the carpeting at the home of the girl’s grandparents in Peculiar, Missouri, last June. The law firm that filed the suit said their clients believed that properly vetted and trained NFM employees would be doing the work.
“NFM advertises that it has its own installation team,” said Christopher Accurso, attorney for the little girl, her father and grandparents. “There was never the slightest indication from NFM at any point that this was going to be a third-party entity, or that the work was being subcontracted out.”
During the time the contractors were there, court records show, Lopez-Martinez assaulted the girl, who was 7 at the time. In January, Lopez-Martinez pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy — deviate sexual intercourse and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to a Missouri online court database.
“Had Defendants conducted a criminal background check on (Lopez-) Martinez, it would have revealed that (he) was unlawfully using someone else’s social security number,” the 25-page lawsuit said. “Given that Defendant (Lopez-) Martinez was fraudulently using someone else’s social security number, he was not qualified and inherently unfit to send into any customer’s home.”
Nastasia Williams, the NFM Kansas City store director, said in an emailed statement sent to The Star that, “Our hearts go out to the victim and their family.”
“We share the sadness and shock at the details that resulted in the conviction of a third-party contractor’s helper,” Williams said.
Her statement went on to say that in the company’s more than 85 years business, “NFM has prided itself on our Core Values of Integrity and Honesty while providing quality products and services to all our customers.”
“That approach has inspired NFM to maintain longstanding processes related to background checks, safety measures, and accountability that exceed industry standards. Our commitment to ensuring the safety of our customers and team members is unwavering.
“The allegations made against NFM are not true. Out of respect for the privacy of those involved and because this is an ongoing legal matter, we cannot share any additional information.”
The family is suing NFM, Pedro Tapia of Tapia Flooring and Lopez-Martinez. The suit alleges negligence, personal injury and deceptive business practices.
Plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial.
“Boiling it down to its simplest form, what we have here are customers who went to NFM to purchase carpeting for their home that them and their family could enjoy for many years to come,” Accurso said. “And what they got was a lifetime of trauma and heartache and bad memories based off of this.”
The day of the assault
The girl’s grandparents purchased new carpeting from Nebraska Furniture Mart in June 2025. As part of that purchase, the lawsuit said, the store agreed to remove and dispose of current carpet and to install the new.
“Plaintiffs’ Purchase Agreement specifically states that Defendant NFM will perform the carpet removal, disposal, and installation,” the suit said.
“At all times material hereto, Plaintiffs (the girls’ grandparents) reasonably believed the removal and installation work contracted for would be performed by members of the NFM service team who were adequately screened, trained and supervised by NFM,” the suit said.
Instead of NFM employees arriving at the home in Peculiar, Missouri, on June 26 — a day the little girl was staying with her grandparents — the two contractors arrived to install the new carpet. Accurso said his clients did not know that they weren’t NFM employees.
“Even when the laborers, the installers, contacted our clients, I think the morning of, to say that they were on their way, they said, ‘This is so and so with Nebraska Furniture Mart,’” Accurso said. “ ... The issue isn’t that they may use third-party contractors. The issue is that they are not telling their customers that that is what they are doing. They’re stealing and robbing a customer of the ability to make that decision for themselves.”
If you’re saying that it’s NFM doing the installation, Accurso said, “that comes with the certain level of credibility and trust that NFM has worked to earn over decades of being in business.”
“But when NFM is putting that stamp of approval on subcontractors without doing any training or thorough background checks, then you’re just deceiving the customer.”
It wasn’t until after the assault occurred and “my clients started Googling the name of the other contractor, Mr. Tapia,” that they realized it was a separate entity, Accurso said.
During a forensic interview after the incident, the girl said there were two men doing “carpet work” and one man wearing a white shirt was “nice” and a second one in a black shirt (which was Lopez-Martinez) was “mean,” the court affidavit said.
“She stated the ‘mean man’, the defendant, touched her on her ‘butt’ as well as put his hand on her ‘private part’ both over her clothing and inside her underwear,” the affidavit said.
That document, as well as the lawsuit, said Lopez-Martinez further sexually assaulted the child.
“Jane Doe immediately disclosed the sexual assault to (her grandparents),” the suit said. And they immediately called police, who responded to the home and began a criminal investigation.
Accurso said his firm and investigators at this point haven’t been able to find “any specific criminal history as it relates” to Lopez-Martinez.
“But at the same time, we’re not even certain or confident that we have the correct identifying information,” the attorney said. “I mean, if somebody is using fraudulent or falsely obtained social security numbers to conceal their identity, we know that he’s actively taking steps to disguise who he is.
“So at this point, without being able to use the power of the subpoena, which we will now be able to do with the court case being filed, I think we’ll be able to get some more additional information .... that will allow us to run an even more comprehensive background check to see if he does have history of doing this.
“That investigation is still ongoing.”
The Star asked NFM in an email if the company conducts background checks on people hired to install new carpeting and if the company was aware that Lopez-Martinez was working under someone else’s social security number, which the lawsuit alleges.
NFM did not answer those questions and said “out of respect for the privacy of those involved” and the ongoing legal matter additional information could not be shared.
‘What did these folks do wrong?’
According to the lawsuit, “NFM was contacted and made aware of the allegations shortly after Jane Doe disclosed the abuse.” After learning about the allegations, NFM “cancelled” the carpet removal at the home, the suit said.
“Defendant NFM refused to send a new crew out to complete the carpet removal and installation unless Plaintiffs (the grandparents) specifically called NFM to request new carpet removal and installation services,” the lawsuit alleges. “Defendant NFM further advised Plaintiffs .... they were no longer welcome as customers.”
Accurso said his clients didn’t deserve the treatment they received from NFM after the company heard about the allegations.
“What did these folks do wrong besides trust you NFM to provide the expert NFM installers that you promised, that you contracted for?”
In an email to NFM, The Star asked if the company refused to send another crew out to complete the work or tell the plaintiffs they were no longer welcome as customers. In the statement provided, the Kansas City NFM store director said “we can not share any additional information.” The statement also said that allegations made against NFM “are not true,” though it did not specify which ones.
As a result of what Lopez-Martinez did, the lawsuit said, “Plaintiff Jane Doe has experienced, suffered and continues to suffer physical injury and extreme emotional distress.”
Her father and grandparents have also suffered, it said.
“This is something they are going to be living and dealing with for the rest of their lives,” Accurso said. “I think anybody who has experience working with individuals who are survivors of sexual abuse understand that there is an expected level of trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, that should be expected, and unfortunately, we’re dealing with a little girl that has her whole life ahead of her.
“We have absolutely no idea when those symptoms will rear their ugly head. We don’t know if that will be during her adolescent years, or her teenage years, or when she’s in her midlife, but we know it’s going to happen at some point.”
