Workers forced to stay at factory drowned during hurricane while CEO snuck out, lawsuit claims

The family of a factory worker who was killed during Hurricane Helene claim bosses sneaked out to escape the floodwaters while ordering employees to stay.

The family of a Tennessee factory worker who was killed during Hurricane Helene is suing the company and its chief executive — claiming that the bosses sneaked out of the factory to escape catastrophic weather conditions while they ordered employees to stay.

Johnny Peterson, 55, was one of two workers at Impact Plastics who are now confirmed dead in flooding that engulfed the factory in the rural town of Erwin on September 27. Of 11 employees who were swept away, five were rescued and another four remain missing, according to reports.

According to an explosive lawsuit filed by Mr Peterson’s family on Monday in Tennessee state court, the facility’s managers denied employees’ pleas to leave work as the hurricane bore down on the area.

The Impact Plastics factory. Picture: Jacob Ingram/Facebook

That’s despite the fact that workers began receiving notifications from the National Weather Service around 10am urging all who could to evacuate to higher ground, according to the suit.

Around 10.30am, company managers told employees to move their cars because the parking lot was flooding, the suit claims.

An hour later at 11.35am, senior management including Impact Plastics founder and CEO Gerald O’Connor had “stealthily exited the building”, according to court papers.

Workers had assumed they also were allowed to go home as local schools and other businesses announced closures because of Hurricane Helene, the suit alleges.

Instead, Impact Plastics allegedly instructed its employees to report to work because the company “wanted to meet order deadlines”, court documents show.

It wasn’t until water had flooded the plant’s parking lot and the power went out that managers sent workers home, the suit claims.

Impact Plastics founder and CEO Gerald O’Connor. Picture: Supplied

The suit gives a heartbreaking account of Mr Peterson’s final moments, including text messages with his family revealing his fears that he would not escape the floodwaters.

Mr Peterson, who had stepped outside, went back into the building to help employees “trapped inside” but eventually became trapped himself after the water made it impossible to leave by car, the suit claims.

Mr Peterson managed to climb onto the bed of a semi-trailer attempting to escape the area.

“Johnny knew he could not survive much longer as the water levels continued to swell and pummel the semi-trailer,” the lawsuit stated.

“He texted his daughter for the last time at 1.17pm. ‘I love you allllll,’ he managed to type out. This was the last text Alexa Peterson received from her father.”

The raging waters caused by Hurricane Helene have spurred nearly 250 fatalities across six states, according to the Associated Press.

Eleven employees were swept away. Picture: Jacob Ingram/Facebook

One other person from the factory was still missing after being washed away in Erwin, where dozens of people about a mile (1.6 kilometres) away were also rescued off the roof of a hospital.

The suit names Impact Plastics and Mr O’Connor as defendants. Mr O’Connor’s attorney did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on Wednesday.

The 28-page suit argues that Impact Plastics had no required plan to safely evacuate employees — even though the plant was located in a flood plain and regularly experienced water creeping into its parking lot.

“Based on information we’ve uncovered, including accounts from surviving employees, we believe this tragedy could have been avoided,” Zack Lawson, the family’s attorney, said in a statement to Knox News.

“Impact Plastics was aware of the flood risks, and while employees requested permission to leave, the company failed to act. We will hold them accountable.”

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission