“Although it can no longer operate in Mayfield, please know that MCP plans to continue much of its operation in Kentucky,” the letter continues.
The company plans to transfer some of the affected employees to another location about 10 miles away, but it can’t relocate everyone, the letter said.
“Those employees not offered a transfer to the new facility will be laid off,” the letter reads.
A total of 501 people worked at the candle factory, and 250 of those jobs are being transferred, according to the letter. The rest of the workers are being laid off, the letter said.
Many rescuers climbed inside to find survivors, while Hayden and others stayed on the outside to help people climb out of the rubble.
Gov. Andy Beshear said the storm, which killed at least 70 people in the state, was the “most severe tornado event in Kentucky’s history.”
The lawsuit is based on the Kentucky equivalent of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, statute, said Amos Jones, the Washington, DC-based attorney who is representing some of the workers. The complainants are seeking an “unspecified amount” in financial compensation, he told CNN.
Mayfield Consumer Products did not respond to CNN’s request for comment about the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the company that owns the factory previously said the company had spoken with supervisors working that night, who all denied any employees were told they’d be fired if they left.