Roberta Ritter of Parma thinks she knows Victoria's Secret, and she wants everyone else to know it, too.

Ritter, 36, contends in a class-action lawsuit that the intimate apparel merchant sold her bras soaked in chemicals that caused itchy rashes and painful burns on her breasts.

She filed the lawsuit last month against Victoria's Secret and its Columbus-based parent, the Limited Brands Inc., in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. A judge has yet to decide whether to grant the suit class-action status.

In court papers, attorney John Climaco accused Victoria's Secret of peddling dangerous and defective products, of failing to warn customers about unhealthy potential side effects and of fraud and negligence for selling unfit merchandise.

"I don't want any other women to have to go through what I did," Ritter said in a phone interview on Friday.

A spokeswoman for Victoria's Secret said the company is taking the complaints seriously and has launched an internal review. "We will do everything we can to ensure our customers' continued confidence in and satisfaction with our products," said Tammy Roberts Myers in an e-mailed statement.

She said she believes the company will prevail in the lawsuit.

In January, Ritter bought two bras -- a black satin Angels Secret Embrace and a pink satin Very Sexy push-up model -- for $42 apiece from the Victoria's Secret store at the Parmatown Mall.

She said her skin began to itch after she wore the bras for a few days. The itch turned into a rash, and the rash developed into ugly red painful welts that were hot to the touch, she said.

"I flipped out," Ritter said. "I knew it had to be the bra. I had perfectly shaped burns where the cups were."

Only then did she notice that her old reliable bras were made in India, but her new bras bore tags "Made in China."

Ritter contacted Victoria's Secret, where she said a service representative offered her replacement bras and a warning: "I guess you know what bras not to wear now."

The company reps asked her to return the bras, but Ritter refused until she had figured out what had caused her skin problems.

A dermatologist told her the cause was likely formaldehyde, a chemical used as a preservative in fabrics to help retain their shapes.

Ritter said her skin problems went away after about a month of cortisone cream and aloe treatments. But her concerns remain.

"I tell you, that scared me," Ritter said. "It put me out of commission for a month. I don't want to ever go through that again."