Carroll Shelby Accused of Sexual Assault

According to the lawsuit, filed today in L.A. County Superior Court, Angelica Smith claims she began working for Shelby back in 2005 as a receptionist ... but was treated as a "personal servant" ... with Shelby often forcing her to go out on "grocery runs, liquor runs, pornography runs."

In the docs, Smith claims Shelby ran a "pervasively hostile work environment" ... and "on at least one occasion, Shelby himself sexually battered [Smith] by groping her" at his home.

Smith claims things got worse in December 2010, alleging she was drugged and raped at Shelby's home by a man who worked for Shelby.

Smith claims she reported the incident to Shelby himself -- but he "did not take any corrective action."

Instead, Smith claims, she was fired -- partly out of retaliation for reporting the rape to Shelby.

Smith is suing Shelby, Shelby's companies and the alleged rapist -- and she wants more than $5 million in damages.