Workers Forced to Stay at Factory Drowned During Hurricane Helene — While CEO Snuck Out and Survived: Scathing Lawsuit
The family of a Tennessee factory worker who was killed during Hurricane Helene is suing the company and its CEO — claiming that the bosses sneaked out of the factory to escape catastrophic weather conditions while they ordered employees to stay.
Johnny Peterson, 55, was one of two workers at Impact Plastics who are now confirmed dead in flooding that engulfed the factory in the rural town of Erwin on Sept. 27. Of 11 employees who were swept away, five were rescued and another four remain missing, according to reports.
According to an explosive lawsuit filed by Peterson’s family on Monday in Tennessee state court, the facility’s managers denied employees’ pleas to leave work as the hurricane bore down on the area.
That’s despite the fact that workers began receiving notifications from the National Weather Service around 10 a.m. urging all who could to evacuate to higher ground, according to the suit.
Around 10:30 a.m., company managers told employees to move their cars because the parking lot was flooding, the suit claims. (Read more from “Workers Forced to Stay at Factory Drowned During Hurricane Helene — While CEO Snuck Out and Survived: Scathing Lawsuit” HERE)
