Several employees at a candle factory destroyed by a tornado Friday night in Mayfield, Kentucky, claim their jobs were at risk if they left before the dangerous twister hit, according to a report.
Some workers left anyway out of fear for their safety. The factory was eventually destroyed with 110 people trapped inside, eight of whom are confirmed dead as of Monday evening.
BIDEN TO TRAVEL TO KENTUCKY IN WAKE OF DEVASTATING TORNADOES
Haley Conder, 29, said she was told by managers to stay for safety reasons. However, after the first siren stopped, she said people should have been allowed to go home. An initial tornado warning passed without incident. Several hours passed before another warning was issued, and when a second siren went off, that's when Condor said a group of workers approached managers to ask if they could go home.
“‘You can’t leave, you can’t leave, you have to stay here,’” Conder told NBC News she heard managers telling four workers who wanted to leave. "The situation was bad. Everyone was uncomfortable.”
Another employee, McKayla Emery, 21, said she decided to stay at the factory in hopes of making extra money, and she overheard managers telling workers they were more than likely to be fired if they left.
“'If you leave, you’re more than likely to be fired,'” Emery told the outlet. “I heard that with my own ears.”
Although employees took shelter after the second siren, not everyone was able to escape harm.
Emery was hit in the head by concrete, ended up stuck for six hours, and suffered from chemical burns on her legs, buttocks, and forehead from the candle wax. She also had damage to her kidney.
“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.”
Officials for Mayfield Consumer Products, the factory's owner, denied the allegations that workers were told they would be fired if they left.
“It’s absolutely untrue,” Bob Ferguson, a company spokesman, was quoted saying in the report. “We’ve had a policy in place since COVID began. Employees can leave anytime they want to leave, and they can come back the next day.”
He also said guidelines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were followed.
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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear provided an update Monday afternoon saying the death toll in his state had risen to 74 people. Overall, including several other states hit by tornadoes, 88 are said to have died, and the number is expected to increase as rescue efforts continue.