Tennessee CEO fled Helene while some workers who were ordered to stay later drowned, lawsuit alleges

foxbusiness.com:

Team Rubicon VP of Operations Jeff Byard describes conditions on the ground in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton on 'Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street.' 

The family of a man killed as a result of Hurricane Helene floodwaters in Tennessee has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging his employer «chose greed over the safety of its workers.»

Johnny Peterson, 55, was among the Impact Plastics employees who died on Sept. 27 after Helene's flooding hit the small, rural town of Erwin in eastern Tennessee.

Surviving employees said they were not told they could leave until the factory lost power, and their cars had already been overtaken by water. 

«They had no emergency action plan, despite the factory being located in a federally-designated flood plan,» the 28-page lawsuit filed on behalf of Peterson's next of kin, Alexa Peterson, by attorney Alex Little in Unicoi County states. 

11 TENNESSEE FACTORY WORKERS SWEPT AWAY IN HELENE FLOODWATERS, COMPANY RESPONDS TO EVACUATION DECISION

Floodwaters outside Impact Plastics in Erwin, Tennessee, as seen on Sept. 27.  (Circuit Court for the state of Tennessee First Judicial District, Unicoi County / Fox News)

The court-filed documents also allege Impact Plastics CEO Gerald O'Connor Jr. «and other senior management had stealthily exited the building out of the back door after securing some business documents from their own private offices.»

The suit states Peterson was the father of four children, with Alexa being the oldest, and that he had climbed into the bed of a semi-trailer in an attempt to escape.

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Employees were first told to move their cars to higher ground before they were officially released