The family of Johnny Peterson, a 55-year-old Tennessee factory worker killed during Hurricane Helene, is suing his employer, Impact Plastics, and its CEO, accusing them of abandoning workers to face the deadly flood.
As floodwaters surged on Sept. 27, managers allegedly ignored employees’ pleas to leave, despite evacuation warnings from the National Weather Service.
While CEO Gerald O’Connor and senior management allegedly sneaked out of the factory, workers were ordered to stay to meet deadlines.
Tragically, Peterson, who tried to help others, was swept away by floodwaters after a final heart-wrenching text to his daughter, saying, “I love you allllll.”
The lawsuit claims the disaster, which so far has officially claimed nearly 250 lives across six states, was preventable, with the family’s attorney stating, “Based on information we’ve uncovered… we believe this tragedy could have been avoided.”
Corporate scum of the earth bar*tards. I have heard that the death toll is in the thousands, maybe even ten’s of thousand from non-state sources.
If he did force them to stay when an evacuation order was in place then it’s a criminal issue also. Not sure why they all just didn’t walking out when the evacuation order was put in place as if the boss tried to stop them and fire them there would have been grounds for lawsuits and legal action. People need to know their rights however the system is in place to dumb people down.
Similar to the Ballantine’s fire in Christchurch….???
With jobs so scarce now and the Greatest Economic Depression underway in the U.S., employees are fearful of losing their jobs.
But in addition to that they run the risk of being ‘blacklisted’ to where they will never work again, and be condemned to poverty and living on food stamps, welfare, and housed in a tent on the right-of-way of the sidewalks and streets!
Those Veterans who are in a scenario similar to this still are experiencing denials from the DVA thus depriving them of their Compensation and entitlements. The DVA’s rune is “Deny, Deny, ’till they all can die!’
So, employees find themselves meeting the unreasonable demands of abusive employers, and the Unions will do…NOTHING!
At least here in NZ a new labor union is being formed-up that is not compromised by ‘management’…!
That’s terrible. So sorry for the family-what a loss.