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New lawsuit filed by workers in Ky. factory hit by tornado

An aerial view of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, which was destroyed by a tornado.
WDRB
Aerial footage from WDRB Saturday shows the remains of a Mayfield, Ky. candle factory destroyed in a tornado.

A group of workers at a Kentucky candle factory destroyed by a tornado have filed a second lawsuit. They say they were not allowed to leave work before the tornado slammed into the now-permanently closed Mayfield Consumer Products plant nearly a year ago.

About 100 people were trapped inside, and nine died.

The suit filed Thursday accuses the company and one of its supervisors of false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress. A company spokesman said they had not reviewed the new lawsuit. The company has said a supervisor accused of telling employees they couldn't leave was enforcing a shelter in place policy.

A previous suit, filed less than a week after the December 2021 tornado, claimed the company refused to let its employees leave the factory even though the employer knew severe weather was on the way.

In August, Occupational Safety and Health Administration documents indicated the company was facing several safety violations, which Mayfield Consumer Products contested.

Amina Elahi contributed to this story.

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