Feds: Owner fired worker after she tried to report accident
FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) — The owner of a now-closed West Virginia beef jerky maker is being sued for firing an employee after she tried to report an accident.
The U.S. Labor Department says in a news release it filed a lawsuit against Lone Star Western Beef Inc. and owner John Bachman. The lawsuit filed Thursday in Clarksburg federal court seeks unspecified back wages and punitive damages for the terminated employee.
The statement says a worker severed part of his thumb at the company’s Fairmont plant in July 2014. A co-worker called 911, but before the call was answered, Bachman ordered her to hang up and she was fired two days later. The worker’s thumb was never reattached.
A federal investigation found the company violated federal safety and health law.
Bachman didn’t immediately return a telephone message Thursday.