Damaged buildings following a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, U.S., on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. (Credit: Liam Kennedy/Bloomberg)
Survivors and the families of three employees who were killed when a tornado hit a Kentucky candle factory last year filed a "mass action" lawsuit in state court Thursday, December 8, against the factory's supervisor as a key decision is pending in an identical federal court matter.
The former employees, as well as the estates of Iván Ramirez Lopez, Jill Monroe, and Kayla Marie Smith, allege that Mayfield Consumer Products and its supervisor, Justin Bobbitt, are liable for false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violation of Kentucky statutory law, according to the complaint filed in Graves Circuit Court.
The state action mirrors a federal complaint filed in March by eight former employees, which is pending before U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton of the Western District of Kentucky. The plaintiffs in both cases, Elijah Johnson, William Aliff, Matthew Barber, Mary Smith, Haley Conder, McKayla Emery, Matthew Valiant, and John Lawson, had initially filed their class action lawsuit in Graves Circuit Court, but it was later moved to the federal court.
In May, the plaintiffs sought to add Bobbitt as a party, but the federal court has yet to make a ruling. Out of "an abundance of caution that the federal court may deny the motion to add" Bobbitt as a party, the original plaintiffs were joined by members of the estates—a total of 18 individuals—in filing the present action against the supervisor, according to filing in the circuit court.
On Dec. 10, 2021, the plaintiffs and more than 100 other employees continued to work at the factory, turning out products for businesses such as Bath & Body Works, during the holiday shopping season. The plaintiffs and other employees had asked to leave the factory as a safety precaution ahead of an approaching storm.
MCP allegedly refused to let the employees leave or else they would face termination of employment. The plaintiffs claimed that they witnessed or were told by Bobbitt that the employees would "more than likely lose your job," if they left, according to the complaint.
"If not falsely imprisoned, Plaintiffs would not have suffered any physical, mental and/or emotional injuries, death and/or loss of consortium because all of them would have had ample time to avoid the path of the tornado and seek and take safe shelter," the complaint said.
Bob Ferguson of the public relations firm Hawksbill Group in Washington, D.C., has repeatedly denied such reports that employees weren't allowed to leave ahead of the approaching storm, the complaint said.
A tornado struck the plant, causing the building to collapse. Nine people were killed and several others were injured.
Families of the estates also claim that MCP or its workers' compensation insurance carrier led them to believe that $90,000 was the full amount available for the deaths of Lopez, Monroe, and Smith.
"These vulnerable families were led by insurance adjusters and others to believe that $90,000 for the deaths of their loved ones was the maximum recovery allowed in Kentucky simply because these deaths were caused by conditions on the job," William L. Davis of The Law Offices of William L. Davis in Lexington said in a statement on behalf of the plaintiffs. "But that view is not how the law is supposed to work, on these facts."
Additionally, another of the plaintiffs' attorneys, Amos Jones, of the Amos Jones Law Firm in Washington, D.C., said several of the plaintiffs have been "targeted" by a debt collector for medical bills that MCP and its insurers have not paid.
"These folks are still hurting, there's been no resolution for them, and now collection agency action is involved—at Christmas," said another attorney representing the plaintiffs, William D. Nefzger of the Louisville firm Bahe Cook Cantley & Nefzger. "It's time to go into overdrive, and so here we are, filing this mass action for total accountability."
Last month, former factory employees filed a charge against MCP at the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the company of unfair labor practices and "retaliating against us in denying, abridging, and/or obstructing workers' compensation benefits because we participated in an OSHA investigation that led to fines for many violations."
In June, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a $40,000 fine against MCP and a corrective action due to several safety violations.
A message seeking comment was not immediately returned from Edmund Sauer, a partner at Nashville-based Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, on behalf of the defendants.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.