LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge ruled certain claims filed by employees at a Kentucky candle factory during a deadly tornado can proceed.

What You Need To Know

  • U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton ruled the false-light and defamation claims by the plaintiffs against factory owner Mayfield Consumer Products could proceed

  • The judge denied the claims, which include false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress

  • Eight factory workers claim supervisors threatened them with termination if they left during the Dec. 20, 2021 storm

  • The lawsuit claims a spokesperson for the candle factory publicly contradicted their claims, which defames their character and portrays them in a false light

U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton ruled the false-light and defamation claims by the plaintiffs against factory owner Mayfield Consumer Products could proceed. The judge, however, denied their other claims, which include false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 

 

 

In a news release, Amos Jones, who represents the eight workers in the suit, expressed confidence that they would prove their case in court.

“Across the commonwealth, nay-sayers who didn’t know the facts were publicly offering doomsday assessments that there was no way these employees could proceed on any legal theory, and these loudmouths popped up as soon as we filed suit days after the factory collapsed on those laborers,” Jones said. “Today, though, the truth came out: This case is alive and well.”

“These folks are still hurting, and with collection agency action involved, we are pursuing a full-court press,” said William Nefzger, another attorney representing the workers.

The ruling comes 16 months after a devastating tornado tore through the western Kentucky town of Mayfield in Dec. 2021. On the night of Dec. 10, 2021, 110 people were working the Mayfield Consumer Products Factory when a powerful EF4 tornado ripped through the town. The candle factory collapsed, leaving many workers trapped under the rubble and killing eight of them.

In March 2022, eight other living former employees sued MCP. The plaintiffs claimed their supervisors threatened them with termination if they left work during the storm. The lawsuit also accused Bob Ferguson, who served as a spokesperson for MCP in the aftermath of the tornadoes, of defaming and portraying several employees in a false light by publicly contradicting their claims about what happened at the candle factory. In Dec. 2021, Ferguson told multiple media outlets that employees were able to leave the factory, contrary to the claims they were making.

“So, if an employee felt it was in their best interest to leave, they certainly had that option,” he told Spectrum News 1 days after the tornado hit. 

Nine months later, 10 other employees filed a suit that mirrors the first lawsuit. Described as a “mass action lawsuit” by their attorneys, they allege MCP retaliated against employees in misleading and denying certain benefits to them, such as insurance claims in the storm's aftermath.

The “mass action lawsuit” also alleges that MCP and supervisor Justin Bobbitt are liable for the events of Dec. 10, 2021. That suit joins the original eight workers, making 18 named plaintiffs, and remains fully intact in state court.

The second case is also pending before Judge Beaton after it was removed from federal court. 

Spectrum News 1 has reached out to MCP attorneys for comment but has not heard from them.

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