Kentucky Candle Factory Workers to Sue Over Collapse in Tornado

Three employees are suing the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory after a tornado caused the factory to collapse, the Courier-Journal reported.

"We have identified six causes of action before, during and after the tornado at the Mayfield Consumer Products Plant," Washington-based attorney Amos Jones said. "We will be filing formally very soon."

The company has said that eight employees were reported dead after the tornado, and 102 have survived.

Reports have come out that before the building collapsed, employees said that they were not permitted to leave the factory even as tornado sirens blared, and that managers told them they'd be fired if they left early.

An employee at the factory, McKayla Emery, told NBC News that "people had questioned if they could leave or go home."

Another employee, Haley Conder, said after the first siren, employees were not permitted to leave and instead congregated in the restroom. While threats of the first tornado appeared to clear, The Hill reported, employees were told to go back to work.

But Bob Ferguson, a Mayfield Consumer Products spokesman, has denied the claims.

"It's absolutely untrue," Ferguson said. "We've had a policy in place since COVID began. Employees can leave anytime they want to leave, and they can come back the next day."

In response to the possible lawsuit, he said: "We understand we live in a very litigious world and are not surprised that profit-seeking litigators are already poring over this area."

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