Deaths of Tennessee factory workers in Hurricane Helene flooding was 'not work-related,' state agency finds
The Sept. 27 deaths gained national attention when community members and relatives of the mostly Latino plant employees questioned why they hadn't been dismissed from work early enough to escape the record levels of rain that overcame the plastics factory in Erwin and take the only road out.
The report from the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) published Wednesday, said that because 'work operations had stopped and employees had left the building,' the deaths were not work-related and thus not within its jurisdiction.
'After considering the evidence," Chris Cannon, a spokesman with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, said, "TOSHA determined that company management exercised reasonable diligence in dismissing employees and providing them sufficient time to leave the facility safely.'
A criminal probe by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation into the deaths is still underway, said Leslie Earhart, the bureau's spokesperson.
Five employees and one contractor were killed when the semi-truck trailer they had sought refuge on was overtaken by raging floodwaters. They were Monica Hernandez-Corona, 44; Bertha Mendoza, 56; Johnny Peterson, 55; Lidia Verdugo Gastelum, 63; Rosa Maria Andrade Reynoso, 29; and Sibrina Barnett, 53. Six others were tossed from the truck bed and later rescued.
Attorneys representing relatives of some of the deceased employees rejected the probe's conclusions.
'TOSHA's report ignores multiple witnesses' testimonies, critical text messages, emergency alert logs, and photographic evidence that tell the real story about Impact Plastics' fatal failures," Zack Lawson, an attorney representing Alexa Peterson, Johnny Peterson's daughter, in a wrongful death lawsuit against Impact Plastics. "We're grateful that in America, juries — not bureaucrats citing unnamed sources — will decide the truth based on all the evidence."
Greg Coleman, an attorney for the Mendoza family, said they "vehemently disagree with any characterization that Impact Plastics exercised reasonable diligence in dismissing employees."
The facts, he said, do not support a finding that the floodwaters were already too high and strong when the factory "finally, and begrudgingly, allowed workers to leave."
While he agreed with a suggestion from the safety administration that the plant should improve its emergency plans, "this comes far too late for our clients."
Relatives of the missing and dead factory employees, and those who survived, have alleged they were made to show up to work even as the hurricane was moving through the area.
The day before the historic flood, the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tennessee, issued several warnings of potential flooding for the rest of the week.
The local school district canceled school, citing weather warnings, and at least one other company in the same industrial park as Impact Plastics, Foam Products Corp., closed their doors Friday. It was the first time their Erwin plant had ever closed for extreme weather.
Impact Plastics, which manufactures components for cars, helicopters, furniture and other products, decided to open that Friday, as did several other nearby businesses.
Through lawyers, Impact Plastics said in a statement Wednesday that it welcomed the results of TOSHA's investigation and that the company and its founder, Gerald O'Connor, have cooperated with it.
'Impact Plastics and Gerald O'Connor continue to concentrate on seeing to the needs of members of the Impact Plastics family and grieving over the wonderful people who were lost in the flood," the company stated. "Mr. O'Connor is focused on rebuilding Impact Plastics for the benefit of the employees, the customers, and the community.'
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The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Trump's DC crackdown will do little to prevent crime, advocates say: ‘That's not what creates safety'
Donald Trump's hyperbolic portrayal of crime in major American cities, and his deployment of the national guard in Washington DC ostensibly in an effort to combat it, have reignited a decades-old debate about crime, violence and which policies and approaches can address it. The US president has cited cities such as Oakland, Philadelphia and Chicago as examples of places overwhelmed by crime and violence. He has put forward an increased militarization of law enforcement, and more money and legal protections for police, as the most effective ways to address homicides and other violent crime. But to violence prevention workers, the recent statements appeared made not out of care and concern for the lower-income Black and Latino victims who bear an outsized share of the nation's crimes, but to undermine and dismiss the progress community groups have made. And, the advocates argue, the administration's emphasis on law enforcement and prosecution as the sole ways to stop crime will do little to stop the cycles of violence and property crime that these groups have faced through Republican and Democratic administrations alike. 'The police are about response. But that's not what creates safety,' said Aqeela Sherrills, a longtime community violence intervention leader in Los Angeles. 'A lot of our urban communities have been war zones because they lack investment in infrastructure and programming. It's really disheartening to hear the president of the United States put out misinformation.' Sherrills began his career in violence prevention in Watts in the early 90s. Since then he's been a leading force in several organisations that work intensely with the small portion of a city's population responsible for the most violence in an effort to prevent crime and support victims of crime. Throughout his tenure, he said, he had seen the biggest successes in violence reduction come through training local non-profits, community leaders and officials on different violence community prevention models and then allowing them to build bespoke strategies from there. Over the decades, various models have seen major successes. Some deploy violence prevention workers to middle and high schools. In other programs, they use probation officers as a conduit to connect with young adults who are carrying and using firearms illegally. Some programs send workers to hospitals after a shooting, in an effort to prevent retaliatory violence. Some models rely on a police-community partnership, others don't involve police at all. But most programs center on connecting with mostly young men and teenage boys whose conflicts spill out on to city streets, traumatizing entire neighborhoods. This method has shown promise, research shows, In 2024 the Brooklyn community of Baltimore went a year without homicides after deploying a program called Safe Streets. And cities such as Oakland, Seattle and Philadelphia, where city leaders have invested in similar gun violence reduction programs, have seen drops in homicides when the programs were thriving, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association's violent crime survey. And while the reasons for the ebb and flow of homicides can't be reduced to one program or strategy, those working to build these programs up have been fighting for credit and acknowledgment. During the Biden administration, they got it. Their approaches finally found federal support with the creation of an office of gun violence prevention and federal dollars for community prevention groups working on the ground. In past years, programs have expanded across the US as more municipalities build their own offices of violence prevention. But these insights don't appear to inform the Trump administration's approach, Sherrills adds. 'He's not reading the data, he's not looking at the trends and reports, it's just more kneejerk reactions,' he said. 'It's shortsighted because they're only speaking about one aspect of our criminal legal system.' This most recent crime debate comes nearly four months after the Trump administration cut nearly $170m in grants from gun violence prevention organizations, including several groups founded and co-founded by Sherrills who have had to lay off several staff members, dealing a serious blow to critical summertime programming. For small, upstart organizations this loss of funds puts their work in jeopardy, said Fredrick Womack, whose organization, Operation Good, lost 20% of its budget due to the April cuts. Womack says he was dismayed to hear the list of cities that Trump singled out, because they are all cities with Black leaders who have invested in community violence intervention. The calls for increased police and potential military presences, he says, shows a disconnect between the halls of power and the needs of the people most affected by violent crime. 'How is the military going to provide support for victims when they need someone who's going to be compassionate to what they're going through?' He asked. 'I know people want justice, but they also need support. They need healing and counseling. 'They won't go into the projects and ask the people how life is going for you. But they'll look at someone who lives in the hills who heard a gunshot two miles away last week and say: 'We have a crime problem,'' he continued. Womack founded Operation Good in 2013, and since then he and his small staff and gaggle of volunteers have worked with the teenagers and young men responsible for most of the city's violence and given them odd jobs and taken them to civil rights museums so they can understand where they come from and gain a sense of community. Womack's work has made a difference: in the years since the pandemic – which saw nationwide surges of gun violence – the homicide rate started to tick down, a change city officials have attributed in part to the work of community-based groups including Operation Good, and their collaboration with the police. Community leaders also argue that not only will Trump's approach be less effective, it's not aimed at helping the people most affected by violence. During a 12 August press conference, Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host who was recently appointed the US attorney for DC, argued that Trump's rhetoric about crime and his administration's approach to violence in DC were done in the name of victims. Flanked by posters of mostly Black teenagers and children killed by gun violence, Pirro argued that policies including DC's Youth Rehabilitation Act have only emboldened perpetrators. 'I guarantee you that every one of these individuals was shot and killed by someone who felt they were never gonna be caught,' Pirro told reporters. And when reporters asked about addressing the root causes of crime and violence and the recent cuts to community-based programs, Pirro argued that her focus is on being punitive, not preventive. For Leia Schenk, a Sacramento-based victim and violence prevention advocate, these sorts of sentiments, while common among conservatives, miss the point. 'It's tone-deaf and an oxymoron. The root causes are why we have victims,' Schenk said. 'In my experience [crime and violence] come from systemic oppression. Meaning if a family can't feed their kids, they're gonna steal, rob or commit some sort of fraud to just live and survive.' Schenk has been working in the community advocacy space for more than three decades and in that time has seen the most successful approaches to youth crime, shootings and other forms of violence happen when schools districts, local mental and physical healthcare systems get a level of investment that matches the scale of the problem. 'We're seeing the most success when we are supported – from schools to law enforcement to churches – their support allows us to do what we're doing on a bigger scale.' Despite the comments and moves from the Trump administration, Sherrills says the field of violence prevention will continue to thrive thanks to a strong foundation that was fortified in recent years due to federal support and increased support from philanthropic groups. 'We know that we're in challenging times but it's about doubling down on success and making sure we preserve the wins,' he said. 'We're going to continue to see violence trend down because of the work practitioners are doing in the field. Folks are tired of the killing and the dying and are looking for alternative ways to create better ways of navigating a conflict so that it doesn't lead to violence.'
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Trump's DC crackdown will do little to prevent crime, advocates say: ‘That's not what creates safety'
Donald Trump's hyperbolic portrayal of crime in major American cities, and his deployment of the national guard in Washington DC ostensibly in an effort to combat it, have reignited a decades-old debate about crime, violence and which policies and approaches can address it. The US president has cited cities such as Oakland, Philadelphia and Chicago as examples of places overwhelmed by crime and violence. He has put forward an increased militarization of law enforcement, and more money and legal protections for police, as the most effective ways to address homicides and other violent crime. But to violence prevention workers, the recent statements appeared made not out of care and concern for the lower-income Black and Latino victims who bear an outsized share of the nation's crimes, but to undermine and dismiss the progress community groups have made. And, the advocates argue, the administration's emphasis on law enforcement and prosecution as the sole ways to stop crime will do little to stop the cycles of violence and property crime that these groups have faced through Republican and Democratic administrations alike. 'The police are about response. But that's not what creates safety,' said Aqeela Sherrills, a longtime community violence intervention leader in Los Angeles. 'A lot of our urban communities have been war zones because they lack investment in infrastructure and programming. It's really disheartening to hear the president of the United States put out misinformation.' Sherrills began his career in violence prevention in Watts in the early 90s. Since then he's been a leading force in several organisations that work intensely with the small portion of a city's population responsible for the most violence in an effort to prevent crime and support victims of crime. Throughout his tenure, he said, he had seen the biggest successes in violence reduction come through training local non-profits, community leaders and officials on different violence community prevention models and then allowing them to build bespoke strategies from there. Over the decades, various models have seen major successes. Some deploy violence prevention workers to middle and high schools. In other programs, they use probation officers as a conduit to connect with young adults who are carrying and using firearms illegally. Some programs send workers to hospitals after a shooting, in an effort to prevent retaliatory violence. Some models rely on a police-community partnership, others don't involve police at all. But most programs center on connecting with mostly young men and teenage boys whose conflicts spill out on to city streets, traumatizing entire neighborhoods. This method has shown promise, research shows, In 2024 the Brooklyn community of Baltimore went a year without homicides after deploying a program called Safe Streets. And cities such as Oakland, Seattle and Philadelphia, where city leaders have invested in similar gun violence reduction programs, have seen drops in homicides when the programs were thriving, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association's violent crime survey. And while the reasons for the ebb and flow of homicides can't be reduced to one program or strategy, those working to build these programs up have been fighting for credit and acknowledgment. During the Biden administration, they got it. Their approaches finally found federal support with the creation of an office of gun violence prevention and federal dollars for community prevention groups working on the ground. In past years, programs have expanded across the US as more municipalities build their own offices of violence prevention. But these insights don't appear to inform the Trump administration's approach, Sherrills adds. 'He's not reading the data, he's not looking at the trends and reports, it's just more kneejerk reactions,' he said. 'It's shortsighted because they're only speaking about one aspect of our criminal legal system.' This most recent crime debate comes nearly four months after the Trump administration cut nearly $170m in grants from gun violence prevention organizations, including several groups founded and co-founded by Sherrills who have had to lay off several staff members, dealing a serious blow to critical summertime programming. For small, upstart organizations this loss of funds puts their work in jeopardy, said Fredrick Womack, whose organization, Operation Good, lost 20% of its budget due to the April cuts. Womack says he was dismayed to hear the list of cities that Trump singled out, because they are all cities with Black leaders who have invested in community violence intervention. The calls for increased police and potential military presences, he says, shows a disconnect between the halls of power and the needs of the people most affected by violent crime. 'How is the military going to provide support for victims when they need someone who's going to be compassionate to what they're going through?' He asked. 'I know people want justice, but they also need support. They need healing and counseling. 'They won't go into the projects and ask the people how life is going for you. But they'll look at someone who lives in the hills who heard a gunshot two miles away last week and say: 'We have a crime problem,'' he continued. Womack founded Operation Good in 2013, and since then he and his small staff and gaggle of volunteers have worked with the teenagers and young men responsible for most of the city's violence and given them odd jobs and taken them to civil rights museums so they can understand where they come from and gain a sense of community. Womack's work has made a difference: in the years since the pandemic – which saw nationwide surges of gun violence – the homicide rate started to tick down, a change city officials have attributed in part to the work of community-based groups including Operation Good, and their collaboration with the police. Community leaders also argue that not only will Trump's approach be less effective, it's not aimed at helping the people most affected by violence. During a 12 August press conference, Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host who was recently appointed the US attorney for DC, argued that Trump's rhetoric about crime and his administration's approach to violence in DC were done in the name of victims. Flanked by posters of mostly Black teenagers and children killed by gun violence, Pirro argued that policies including DC's Youth Rehabilitation Act have only emboldened perpetrators. 'I guarantee you that every one of these individuals was shot and killed by someone who felt they were never gonna be caught,' Pirro told reporters. And when reporters asked about addressing the root causes of crime and violence and the recent cuts to community-based programs, Pirro argued that her focus is on being punitive, not preventive. For Leia Schenk, a Sacramento-based victim and violence prevention advocate, these sorts of sentiments, while common among conservatives, miss the point. 'It's tone-deaf and an oxymoron. The root causes are why we have victims,' Schenk said. 'In my experience [crime and violence] come from systemic oppression. Meaning if a family can't feed their kids, they're gonna steal, rob or commit some sort of fraud to just live and survive.' Schenk has been working in the community advocacy space for more than three decades and in that time has seen the most successful approaches to youth crime, shootings and other forms of violence happen when schools districts, local mental and physical healthcare systems get a level of investment that matches the scale of the problem. 'We're seeing the most success when we are supported – from schools to law enforcement to churches – their support allows us to do what we're doing on a bigger scale.' Despite the comments and moves from the Trump administration, Sherrills says the field of violence prevention will continue to thrive thanks to a strong foundation that was fortified in recent years due to federal support and increased support from philanthropic groups. 'We know that we're in challenging times but it's about doubling down on success and making sure we preserve the wins,' he said. 'We're going to continue to see violence trend down because of the work practitioners are doing in the field. Folks are tired of the killing and the dying and are looking for alternative ways to create better ways of navigating a conflict so that it doesn't lead to violence.'
Scottish Sun
09-08-2025
- Scottish Sun
I was accused of cheating after my baby was born with a different skin colour – there's a perfectly reasonable reason
Belvana is often asked if her daughter was adopted OH BABY I was accused of cheating after my baby was born with a different skin colour – there's a perfectly reasonable reason Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MUM has revealed how strangers accused her of cheating on her husband after her daughter was born with a different skin colour to the rest of the family. Belvana Abeli's, daughter, Zayana Domingos, two, was born with albinism and has light skin, hair and eyes, while her parents and two other siblings are black. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Belvana Abeli was accused of cheating on her husband when she gave birth to her daughter Zayana Domingos (seen together) Credit: Caters 5 But the little girl was born with albinism which causes her to have light skin, hair and eyes Credit: Caters The 36-year-old explained how her daughter is regularly discriminated against for looking different, with strangers asking if she is adopted and have even accused Belvana of cheating on her husband due to how their daughter looks. Belvana, from Cape Town, South Africa, said: 'The reaction to her having albinism was really well within our family but externally, there were a lot of questions. 'People have questioned whether I cheated on my husband with a white person – it's a lot to deal with. 'People will ask things about why my one daughter is black and the other is white or ask if she's adopted. 'It's offensive, but people unconsciously do it.' After suffering with Covid-19 during her pregnancy, the mum had to have an emergency C-section at just 28 weeks. When she saw her newborn baby for the first time, Belvana was left questioning why her baby had a different skin colour and ginger hair. However, after genetic testing, doctors confirmed Zayana had been born with albinism, a life-long condition. Initially, the mum-of-three was unsure whether there was any family history of the condition and later learned that her grandmother's great-uncle had albinism and also suffered from discrimination. 'Giving birth to an albino baby was a surprise as albinism was not known to run in any of our families,' she says. Latino mum's albino baby with ivory skin and blonde hair made her doubt who the father was 'Doctors initially said her skin and hair would darken with time, but after a few days in hospital, we were informed that she had albinism. 'As time went by her skin and eyes got lighter and lighter. We already had a black daughter and weren't expecting an albino baby at all.' Zayana has two siblings, one older sister and one younger brother who are both black. Zivah Domingos, five, is the eldest of the trio whilst Zander Domingos, five months, is the youngest. People with albinism will often suffer from a lack of vision due to the reduced amount of melanin in the layer of cells in the eye as well as having a higher risk of sunburn and skin cancer. After falling pregnant with her third baby, Belvana was curious as to what colour skin her next child would have after having an albino baby. She consulted the doctor to see if there were any tests that could be done to determine the possible albinism. Although she didn't mind, Belvana wanted to minimise any possible shock. Speaking about her 'miracle' albino baby, Belvana adds: 'Having an albino child has been challenging at times due to the lack of education about albinism, for example, being told that our daughter needs a special school because albinism is a disability. 5 The couple hadn't realised that there had been a history of albinism on Belvana's side of the family Credit: Caters 5 Belvana says that people often ask if she is adopted which she does find offensive Credit: Caters 'But it has also been a great blessing to us because it has given us the opportunity to share our story and increase knowledge about albinism.' Her eldest daughter, Zivah, has started to ask questions about why her little sister looks different to the rest of the family. She added that Zayana is too young to question her looks, but her mum knows that the questions will be asked when she gets older. WHAT IS ALBINISM? Albinism is an inherited genetic condition where people are born without any kind of pigment in their body. Their body is unable to produce melanin (which gives you colour), and can affect the skin, eyes and hair. This causes those who are born an albino to have very pale skin, eyes and hair, and the condition can affect all races. There are two main kinds of albinism, which are oculocutaneous albinism and ocular albinism. Albinism affects around one person in every 20,000. 'When I was pregnant with my son, my daughter was asking me if he was going to be white or black,' she says. 'My eldest is coming to a point where she's starting to understand that Zayana is different to others in the family. 'But, she is our miracle baby, and we are super fortunate to have her in our lives.'
