Injured Workers Sue Hickory Company Sued for North Carolina Personal Injuries From Con Agra Slim Jim Natural Gas Blast
Energy Systems Analysts, a water heater maker company in Hickory, is one defendant in the North Carolina personal injury lawsuit filed by two people who were injured in the June 9 blast at a Con Agra Slim Jim plant in Garner.
300 people were working at the plant when the deadly work explosion occurred. The fatal natural gas explosion injured almost 40 people and killed three others. One of the injured workers, Tammie O’Neal, sustained back, leg, and head injuries. She was trampled by workers that were rushing to escape the explosion. Another injured employee, Leonard Spruill, sustained serious burn injuries.
Energy Systems Analysts was a Hickory contractor that made and helped install a gas water heater that investigators think may have been a key factor in the deadly natural explosion. The workers' Raleigh personal injury lawsuit is accusing the water heater maker of not having the license in North Carolina to install, connect, or manipulate the pipes that deliver the natural gas. The plaintiffs are also accusing the Hickory contractor of failing to evacuate the plant when it became apparent that “natural gas was venting into the plant.”
The US Chemical Safety Board believes there is a strong likelihood that contractors vented the gas inside the building when they installed the device. The gas should have been vented outside. North Carolina safety officials are investigating 10 companies because of the fatal blast.
Other defendants named in the North Carolina personal injury lawsuit are Curtis Ray Poppe, an Energy Systems Analysts employee, Jacobs Engineering Group, the company that came up with the installation plans, and Southern Industrial Constructors, a mechanical contractor.
Although workers cannot sue their employers for work accidents—they are, however, entitled to workers’ compensation benefits—they can file North Carolina personal injury claims against third parties that were liable for causing their work injuries.
Hickory company named in lawsuit in wake of fatal plant explosion, Hickory Record, June 23, 2009
Injured ConAgra workers sue contractor, The News & Observer, June 16, 2009
Related Web Resources:
3 confirmed dead in explosion, The News & Observer, June 16, 2009
