Suit: Factory expressed 'flagrant indifference' to tornadoes

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) - Survivors of a tornado that leveled a Kentucky candle factory filed a lawsuit claiming their employer demonstrated 'œflagrant indifference'ť by refusing to allow the employees to go home early.

The suit filed in state court seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Mayfield Consumer Products. A company spokesman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday.

The suit claims the factory had 'œup to three and half hours before the tornado hit its place of business to allow its employees to leave its worksite as safety precautions.'ť The factory showed 'œflagrant indifference to the rights'ť of the workers by refusing to do so, the suit said.

The suit was filed less than a week after the storms that began Friday night destroyed lives and property from Arkansas to Illinois and in parts of neighboring states, carving a more than 200-mile (320-kilometer) path through Kentucky alone.