Jury selection begins tomorrow in a civil lawsuit between a rape victim and the company that manages Waterworks Mall.

The victim claims J.J. Gumberg Co. provided "wholly inadequate" security at the mall, leaving her vulnerable to a man who kidnapped her and later raped her three times.

Jimmy Lee Tayse, the rapist, waited in the Waterworks parking lot the morning of April 7, 2007, then accosted the woman and her 16-month-old daughter after they finished grocery shopping. He held a knife to the baby's throat and forced the woman to drive him to Ohio, where the rapes occurred.

The woman and her husband are seeking monetary damages from Gumberg, a company based in Braddock Hills. In court filings, Gumberg's attorneys said the couple's lawsuit has no merit.

"It is denied that J.J. Gumberg knew Waterworks Mall attracted an unusually high incidence of crime, or that it failed to take action with regards to reasonable threats . ... To the contrary, J.J. Gumberg acted reasonably at all times," its lawyers said.

Gumberg's legal team tried without success to force the woman to disclose her real name in the lawsuit. Common Pleas Judge Christine Ward ruled that the woman and her husband could sue Gumberg under the pseudonyms Jane and John Doe. The couple, from Fox Chapel, said revealing their real names would cause them unnecessary embarrassment.

Undeterred, Gumberg lawyers in October published the victim's identity in a pretrial statement that appeared on Allegheny County's Web site. The victim's lawyers said the company wanted to intimidate her. An administrative judge redacted the woman's name from the public record hours later.

Gumberg executives have known the victim's identity since at least the summer of 2007. An attorney for the company attended Mr. Tayse's criminal trial in Akron, Ohio, to prepare for the civil case. The victim testified about kidnapping and rapes for five hours in open court, but the Post-Gazette has never published her name. The newspaper does not identify rape victims.

Jurors in the criminal trial convicted Mr. Tayse of 14 felonies. Sherri Bevan Walsh, the Ohio prosecutor, said Mr. Tayse, now 31, must serve at least 73 years in prison before he will be eligible for parole.

Mr. Tayse, formerly of Johnstown, Cambria County, has given a videotaped deposition for the civil trial. Gumberg executives, medical professionals, police officers and the victim herself also are on the witness list.

Lawyers for each side say the trial will last about one week.