Page Nav

HIDE

Pages

Classic Header

{fbt_classic_header}

Breaking News:

latest

More than a hundred Kentucky candle factory workers sue owners claiming they were told they'd be FIRED if they left work before tornado that killed eight staff

  A group of   Kentucky   candle factory workers are suing their employer, claiming they were forced to stay during a tornado that destroyed...

 A group of Kentucky candle factory workers are suing their employer, claiming they were forced to stay during a tornado that destroyed the building and left eight dead. 

Elijah Johnson, 20, who filed the suit, and 109 other employees of Mayfield Consumer Products, a family-owned candle factory in Kentucky, are suing for an undisclosed amount after they say they were told that if they left the factory they'd be fired - despite tornado sirens going off.  

Only a few hours later, the whole factory was destroyed by the tornado, killing eight and injuring several. It is unclear how many are injured or missing.  

Employees were trapped under debris for several hours, with some were buried under five feet of rubble.  

The lawsuit claims the company showed 'flagrant indifference to the rights of Plaintiff Johnson and to the other similarly situated Plaintiffs with a subjective awareness that such conduct will result in human death and/or bodily injuries.' 

The company has since denied this claim, stating that they followed protocol.   

Elijah Johnson, 20, (pictured) has filed a lawsuit with 109 other employees after their employer Mayfield Consumer Products told them they couldn't go home before the tornado on Friday, they claimed 

Several employees were hospitalized with injuries after Mayfield Consumer Products - a family-owned candle factory in Kentucky - was torn down in a tornado on Friday. Employee Lauren Barclay (left) was one of reportedly five employees who were told they could not go home after the sirens went off the first time around 5.30pm

Several employees were hospitalized with injuries after Mayfield Consumer Products - a family-owned candle factory in Kentucky - was torn down in a tornado on Friday. Employee Lauren Barclay (left) was one of reportedly five employees who were told they could not go home after the sirens went off the first time around 5.30pm 

Around 15 employees were reportedly told by management they could not leave their shift to go and be with family unless they wanted to be fired.

Johnson and another employee Lauren Barclay, who was hospitalized after the tornado hit with unknown injuries, were among them.

'I'm angry [with Mayfield Consumer Products],' Johnson told DailyMail.com on Friday. 'We were threatened with termination if we left when the tornado sirens came on.

'Signing out wasn't an option, either you stay or if you leave you get terminated, simple as that.'   

Johnson also claimed that supervisors went out to take attendance after having a meeting with the five to see who had already left.  

'We should not have been working,' Lauren Barclay told Wave 3 News from her hospital bed. 

Barclay said workers were on the factory lines just moments before the roof was taken off, with just minutes to spare. 

'My house was fine. If I had been at home, I wouldn’t be in this hospital right now. We didn’t even have a tree fall on our yard,' Barclay told Wave 3. 

Another employee McKayla Emery, 21, and Haley Conder, 29, told NBC that they, too, heard supervisors telling people not to go home and that employees were sheltering in bathrooms and in hallways.  

The before and after of the factory which was completely obliterated by the tornado as it tore through Kentucky, leaving nothing but rubble behind. The company has since denied telling its employees they couldn't leave and are offering hazard pay

The before and after of the factory which was completely obliterated by the tornado as it tore through Kentucky, leaving nothing but rubble behind. The company has since denied telling its employees they couldn't leave and are offering hazard pay 

The factory was left completely destroyed, leaving some employees buried under the rubble for several hours as rescue teams pulled them out

The factory was left completely destroyed, leaving some employees buried under the rubble for several hours as rescue teams pulled them out 

It is unclear how many were injured in the destruction or how many remain still missing

It is unclear how many were injured in the destruction or how many remain still missing 

CEO Troy Propes (pictured) denied not allowing his employees to leave, but said it was a 'game' to leave. 'It's such a gamble to stay "leave," you know, because the last thing you do, [experts] say "don't get in your car"'

CEO Troy Propes (pictured) denied not allowing his employees to leave, but said it was a 'game' to leave. 'It's such a gamble to stay "leave," you know, because the last thing you do, [experts] say "don't get in your car"'

CEO Troy Propes told Wave 3 News: 'If we believe we could do anything differently - in hindsight, I think all of us would do something different.

'It's such a gamble to stay "leave," you know, because the last thing you do, [experts] say "don't get in your car.""

A spokesperson for Mayfield Consumer Products told Wave 3 News that managers and team leads go through safety drills that follow FEMA and OSHA guidelines. 

Conder told the outlet that the first alarms went off around 5.30pm and hours later a second set of alarms went off around 9pm.     

That’s the thing. We should have been able to leave,' Mark Saxton, a forklift operator, told NBC. 'The first warning came, and they just had us go in the hallway. After the warning, they had us go back to work. They never offered us to go home.'

Emery recounted being struck by a piece of concrete following the second alarms and how she became 'stuck' underneath its weight. 


'I kid you not, I heard a loud noise and the next thing I know, I was stuck under a cement wall,' she said. 'I couldn’t move anything. I couldn’t push anything. I was stuck.'

She was standing near the wax room in the factory and was pulled out from under the piece of concrete six hours later with burns on her body from the hot wax.

She now reports that she has kidney problems, black urine, and the swelling in her legs is so severe she still can't move her legs. 

Another employee Kyanna Parsons-Perez was trapped for two hours under 'five feet' of rubble after she sheltered in a hallway and got trapped under a water fountain. 

Robert Daniel (pictured) died at the factory
Lannis Joe Ward (pictured) died at the factory

Kirks' boyfriend Lannis Joe Ward (right), as well as Robert Daniel (left), who's son Zachary confirmed his death on Facebook, died at the factory during the tornado


'I did not think I would make it out alive,' she told Today

'I had been in this weird position for so long that I couldn't feel my legs,' she told Today. 

Parsons-Perez said she fell in a weird position and couldn't feel her legs by the time emergency assistance arrived and that several people were trying to help others out from under the debris. 

She commended the inmates working in the factory, who helped free people from under heavy debris.

'I tell you, some of those prisoners were working their tails off to get us out,' she told Today. 'But we were able to get the debris under us to move around and we were able to get out.'  

However, a team lead at the factory Autumn Kirks said she did not hear any supervisors telling employees they cannot leave. 

Kirks' boyfriend Lannis Joe Ward, as well as Robert Daniel, who's son Zachary confirmed his death on Facebook, died in the destruction. It is unknown who the other six victims are. 

The company claims that any employee has always been allowed to leave whenever they wanted since it changed its policy due to COVID-19. 

Johnson told DailyMail.com on Friday: 'There is a policy like that, but if you use it for more than two weeks straight, it will lead to termination because of poor job attendance. That's what the supervisor sat down and told me.'   

Following the tornado, the Mayfield candle factory was completely destroyed, leaving on a large pile of rubble behind.  

It is unclear how many employees were injured or are still missing. 

Johnson also told DailyMail.com on Friday that there is another factory in Hickory that is owned by the same family, where he suspects most people will go. 

Johnson said he will not be joining them if this happens as he is not currently 'physically capable of getting another job.' He did not say if he was injured.  

There are still 16 people missing in the state and the death toll has risen to 76 people. More than 3,000 people are also experiencing power outages due to storm damage. 

No comments