PHILADELPHIA (CN) — Faulting a Pennsylvania candy manufacturer for failing to evacuate workers who complained they smelled gas, a lawsuit filed in state court Tuesday claims the subsequent explosion that killed seven workers and injured others was preventable.
“The explosion completely leveled the factory and brought thousands of tons of rubble down on top of the unsuspecting and innocent factory workers, causing devastating injuries and entrapping the workers until rescue personnel could reach them or, tragically, until they succumbed to their injuries and died,” reads the 25-page complaint, filed by the estate of worker Judy Lopez-Moran in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
The catastrophic gas explosion happened around 5 p.m. on March 24 at the R.M. Palmer confectionary factory in West Reading, a village 60 miles outside of Philadelphia.
The complaint names gas utility UGI and R.M. Palmer as defendants. It says the explosion that killed the 55-year-old mother of three was the result of negligence on the gas company’s part for failing to inspect and maintain the pipes that leaked the natural gas to cause the explosion.
It also faulted management for failing to take precautions. The 75-year-old, family-owned company, widely known for making chocolate Easter bunnies, “did nothing” when workers reported smelling gas earlier that day, the complaint states, and instead misled factory workers into believing their environment was safe “so that factory downtime would be minimized.”
“The RM Palmer Defendants had a duty to immediately contact the appropriate authorities and its gas supplier(s) in the event of any suspected, potential, and/or actual gas leak and ensure that all personnel were evacuated from the factory until the leak was fixed and the factory deemed safe to re-enter,” the lawsuit states.
Neither UGI nor R.M. Palmer representatives immediately responded to a request for comment on the suit Tuesday.
The Palmer family released a statement in the days after the blast saying that the loss of those who died in the incident would be “felt forever."
"The seven who we lost will always be in our prayers, and to those who were injured we wish a speedy recovery. Over the many years that we have worked together many became personal friends and all valued members of the Palmer team," Richard M. Palmer Jr. and family wrote.
While the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, federal officials previously said they were looking at a natural gas pipeline’s role in the incident and the National Transportation Safety Board has called it a “natural gas” explosion and fire.
Led by attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, the law firm of Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky is representing Lopez-Moran in the suit. In a statement Tuesday, the firm said it “will do everything possible to determine exactly what happened, why it happened, and hold all those responsible fully accountable.”
“We look forward to working collaboratively with all investigating agencies involved, and fully expect, at the appropriate time, the full cooperation of the defendants,” the firm continued, noting it also represents more than one dozen victims in the explosion.
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