Tennessee Factory TRAPPED Workers During Hurricane, Investigation ERUPTS

A Tennessee plastics factory becomes the target of a major investigation after multiple employees are found to be dead or missing after Hurricane Helene because managers refused to let them stop working until floodwaters hit the parking lot. John Iadarola and Adrienne Lawrence break it down on The Damage Report.

Read more here:

"Tennessee officials announced Wednesday that they are investigating allegations involving Impact Plastics after company employees were reportedly swept away last week by Hurricane Helene floodwaters.

The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) is investigating reports of 11 employees at Impact Plastics in Erwin, Tennessee, being swept away by flash flooding from Helene in Unicoi County, according to a TOSHA statement.

The allegations involve whether managers at Impact Plastics failed to promptly send employees home as water rapidly rose in a low-lying Erwin industrial park. There are concerns from other company employees that their colleagues may have been told they weren't free to leave or were specifically forbidden from leaving until it was too late."

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#TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurks

241003__DR09Factory

[bettinadewoof]

Guaranteed this wasn’t a union plant. THIS is why unions are needed.

[carenwilson]

Neil Gorsuch ruled in favor of the employer when a truck driver was fired for not staying with the stranded truck on the side of the road during a massive snowstorm even though it was determined he would have frozen to death. That ruling was part of the reason he was chosen by the Federalist Society and subsequently by Trump to BE a SCOTUS nominee and eventually a SCOTUS judge. For life. That's what these corporate owner donors want. Like when Elon Musk praised China for locking workers in the factory to keep working during Covid, and he advocated for that policy here. They want the power to exploit workers as much as possible, and the Republican party is helping them achieve that. Sara Huckabee Sanders has already repealed child labor laws in Arkansas because her owner donors were tired of getting fined for breaking them. Right to work laws are rights to work for less laws and to get fired with notice or severance.

[markfeland]

Criminal charges are absolutely necessary

[johnstapler]

Those poor souls were murdered by a heartless employer.

[sarlon]

They never should have opened that day at all to begin with. Someone needs to be held accountable here.

[smithbradley]

This is the result of anti labor anti union republican states consistently being allowed to place corporate profits ahead of employee safety

[krillin]

Criminal charges need to be filed against so many rich people for so many crimes.

[Rudedogg_]

I'm so fucking tired of hearing the words "Thoughts and Prayers" It's TIME FOR CHANGE and We're NOT going back!!!

[karensamuelson]

I hope this company is sued out of business.

[richardmullins]

Tennessee is a right to work State this is why we must have Unions if not you have no voice. Together we stand divided we fall. I am So sorry for the loss of life at this plant

[philippickles]

The right to refuse unsafe work without repercussions should be the law of the land.

[MsTMarie]

I live an hour from there. Its heartbreaking how many people are still missing.
Our mountains are not prepared for this level of rain and wind taking down trees clogging so many streams and rivers. It was a disaster!
Tennessee is anothrr red, right to work state so this wasent a surprise at all. These factories NEVER let people leave for bad weather 😢

[bulkvanderhuge]

AN "Internal Review", the results are always "We investigated ourselves and found ourselves not guilty of any wrongdoing"

[deniporter]

It is far too often, a company operates from a standpoint of "production over protection".

[globalwarmhugs]

Forcing your low paid workers to stay past safety ? Jail time, please. Guaranteed the managers had already gone to high ground.

[SusanFischer-zklg]

They should’ve been with their families. What a horrid company, every employee had a right to leave!!!! Listen to the employees not corporate, corporate will always lie. I hope the employees bring a class action lawsuit.

[jonno]

They keep those people there and working until the power went out and they couldn't get any productivity out of the employees.

Then they released them to fend for themselves and take the blame if they got hurt or killed.

[VeronicaPrior]

I wonder if this is a thing with plastics plants. I worked for one here in Texas years ago, and there was a tornado warning for a town 8 miles away (where I lived at the time) and they refused to let us leave. My daughter and I just left. I'd rather be looking for work that get home later on to find my teenager (who wasn't answering the phone) blown away.

[MsDemonBunny]

I worked at an employment agency in south Florida during hurricane Floyd.
We were told to stay open because (and I quote) "a client may call in needing a receptionist because their receptionist called out due to the hurricane".
Dude, what?
When Governor Jeb Bush closed the state and declared an emergency, I called corporate and told the personnel assistant I was telling my co-workers we could leave.
She said go, he'd never know.
We all drove home in tropical storm winds that gusted up to category one hurricane winds.
I spent the rest of Floyd updating my resume.

I never would have shown up for work for this employer. No notice either. Just bye, I can find work somewhere else. If a potential employer doesn't want to hire me because they find out I didn't show up DURING A PHUCKING HURRICANE, then I don't want to work there.

[kevinshamrok]

Wasn’t there an incident in Kentucky a couple years ago where Amazon warehouse workers weren’t allowed to leave during tornado warnings and the warehouse took a direct hit killing 8 workers?