‘They Told Me I’d Be Fired:’ Kentucky Candle Plant Workers Stayed During Tornado

At least eight people at a Kentucky candle manufacturer were killed in the devastating tornadoes which ripped through parts of the Midwest and South over the weekend, raising an important question: why were people still at work? 

Answer: Some were told they’d be fired if they left.

“I asked to leave and they told me I’d be fired,” 20-year-old worker Elijah Johnson told NBC News. When he asked if that was the case “even with the weather like this,” a manager said yes, he said.

Employees at the candle factory heard tornado warning sirens hours before the tornado hit, and were ushered in bathrooms and hallways for safety, according to a report Monday by NBC News. But after the first warning had passed, they were told to go back to work—and some were rebuffed when they attempted to leave, according to several workers who spoke with NBC News. 

As many as 15 workers asked to be let go so they could get home but their requests were denied, according to five employees of the candle factory who spoke with NBC News. 

One of them was McKayla Emery, 21, who was seriously injured in the tornado and hospitalized after being hit in the head by concrete, suffering from chemical burns and damaged kidneys. Emery told NBC News she heard a supervisor tell four workers: “If you leave, you’re more than likely to be fired.”

The company denied the allegations that workers were forced to stay at the factory or threatened with their jobs if they left. 

“It’s absolutely untrue,” spokesman Bob Ferguson told NBC News. “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.”

The factory, where more than 100 people were working at the time, was obliterated by the second tornado. 

In the immediate aftermath, the company set up a fund for victims. 

“We’re heartbroken about this, and our immediate efforts are to assist those affected by this terrible disaster,” CEO Troy Propes said in a statement posted to the company’s website. “Our company is family-owned and our employees, some who have worked with us for many years, are cherished.”

Some of the factory’s employees, however, came from local jails. Seven of the workers in the factory that night were from the Graves County jail as part of a work program that had started that week, the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting reported Monday. The company also had a contract with the nearby Calloway County jail, though no one from that facility was working on Friday.

Graves County Deputy Jailer Robert Daniel, who was supervising the incarcerated people working at the factory, died from injuries sustained from the tornado. 

The company’s safety record has also come under new scrutiny. A 2019 inspection of the facility by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found seven violations at the facility classified as “serious,” including one for problems with electrical protective equipment. The company was fined $16,350.

The company’s injury rate was also above average for the industry in 2020, with 4.2 injuries per 100 full-time employees, according to Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. 

And in 2020, the company faced a weight discrimination lawsuit in state court, brought by an employee recruited from Puerto Rico who said he was terminated because he was overweight “and no other legitimate reason.” The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, but a text message screenshot attached the lawsuit and attributed to chief financial officer David Burch read: “We are working diligently to clean up the epileptic, obese, pregnant, and special needs issues.” 

At least 74 deaths have been confirmed in Kentucky so far, according to Gov. Andy Beshear, and President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for several counties in western Kentucky Sunday. Additionally, more than a dozen people died in several other states hit by the tornadoes, including six at an Amazon distribution center in Illinois. An OSHA spokesperson told CNBC Monday that the agency would investigate.