Employees at the candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky that found itself in the path of a tornado on Friday were told that they would lose their jobs if they left, according to new reports.
As per NBC, workers at the Mayfield Consumer Products factory say they heard the warning sirens going off and made an effort to leave the building. However, at least five of them claim shift supervisors reacted by threatening them with getting fired if they left early.
Moreover, workers insisted that they tried for hours to convince bosses to let them leave so they could shelter in their own homes. A steadfast few left even after they’d been told they couldn’t.
When the aforementioned tornado hit, at least eight people in the factory died. The building was leveled, leaving only rubble.
21-year-old McKayla Emery was one of the workers who asked to leave right after the first tornado siren began to wail outside of the factory at around 5:30 p.m.
Speaking from her hospital bed, she said: “People had questioned if they could leave or go home.”
She added that she overheard managers telling four workers standing near her who wanted to leave: “’If you leave, you’re more than likely to be fired’. I heard that with my own ears.”
Emery was buried under concrete for six hours, and suffered chemical burns to her legs, buttocks and forehead.
“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.”
A second employee, Haley Conder, 29, told how around 15 people had asked to go home during the night shift when the first alarm sounded. The second alarm sounded three-to-four hours later, which would have given them a window to leave for home.
20-year-old Elijah Johnson said outright that he was told he would be fired if he left before his shift had ended.
“I asked to leave and they told me I’d be fired,” Johnson said. “Even with the weather like this, you’re still going to fire me?” he asked.
A manager simply responded: “Yes”.
As per reports, Mayfield Consumer Products deny the allegations and claims.
Bob Ferguson, a spokesman for Mayfield Consumer Products, said: “It’s absolutely untrue.
“We’ve had a policy in place since Covid began. Employees can leave any time they want to leave and they can come back the next day.”
Mark Saxton, 37, who works as a forklift operator, said that he would have preferred to leave.
“That’s the thing. We should have been able to leave,” Saxton explained. “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.”
My thoughts go out to all of the victims of this terrible tragedy. I can’t believe a workplace such as this one would deny its employees the chance to go home when they knew a tornado was on its way.
If these claims are true, then I can only hope those responsible face the necessary consequences.
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