NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. hotel magnate Leona Helmsley's pet dog "Trouble" is in legal trouble.

An ex-employee of the woman who earned the nickname "Queen of Mean" in a celebrated tax-evasion case has sued Helmsley, charging that her female Maltese bit her on the right hand and caused serious injuries.

"Trouble is no trouble," Helmsley, 84, responded in a statement on Thursday. "She is a loving dog and plans on fighting the case tooth and nail."

According to the complaint filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday, Zamfira Sfara says the incident took place on Nov. 26 last year at the Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South, where Helmsley lives.

The civil suit says that the small dog has bitten people before and is likely to attack and bite anyone who might come near.

During Helmsley's tax-evasion trial in the 1980s, one of the witnesses against her was an ex-hotel maid who said she had heard her say, "Paying taxes is for little people."