Workers At Kentucky Candle Factory Destroyed By Tornado Sue Their Employer

A group of workers from the Kentucky candle factory that was destroyed by a tornado has filed a class-action lawsuit against their employer, Mayfield Consumer Products.

The factory had been running 24/7 in order to fulfill all the orders it had received during the holiday season. Over 100 people were working when a tornado decimated the factory, leaving eight people dead and dozens more injured.

Numerous employees have claimed that supervisors pressured them into working through the storm. When the workers tried to leave after receiving tornado alerts on their phones and hearing tornado sirens, their supervisors allegedly suggested they would be fired if they left.

"We kept getting warnings on our phones about tornadoes," factory worker John Lawson said, according to WAVE. "No one wanted to stay. Everyone kept saying they wanted to go home, but they wouldn't let us."

Another worker, Elijah Johnson, shared a similar story with CNN.

"I said, 'Man, you're going to refuse to let us leave, even if the weather is this bad and the tornado's not here yet?' He was like, 'If you want to decide to leave, if you want to leave, you can leave, but you're going to be terminated. You're going to be fired," Johnson said.

Mayfield Consumer Products has denied the allegations, but lawyers representing the workers claim they have evidence to back up their claims.

"Everything they've said is true," attorney Amos Jones said. "We have documentary evidence from eyewitnesses there in real-time."