Bumble Bee Foods Charged In Death Of Employee Who Was Cooked To Death In Industrial Oven
People Magazine reported that Bumble Bee Foods and two managers have been charged in the death of an employee who was accidentally cooked to death inside an industrial oven on October 11, 2012. Jose Melena went inside a 35-foot industrial oven to provide maintenance on it. The oven is used at Bumble Bee to sterilize thousands of cans of tuna at a time.
Two other employees at Bumble Bee Foods in Santa Fe Springs, California didn’t know Melena was inside the industrial oven. They loaded the oven with about 12,000 pounds of tuna in cans, shut the oven door, and turned the oven on.
When a supervisor noticed Melena was missing, an announcement was made on the intercom, and employees searched for him throughout the building and in the parking lot. It was two hours later when Melena’s charred body was found in the oven, which had reached 270 degrees.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Bumble Bee Foods and two of the tuna company’s managers were charged Monday with willfully ignoring safety rules, which led to the death of Melena. Besides the company, former safety manager Saul Florez, 42, and Angel Rodriguez, 63, director of plant operations, were each charged with three felony counts of committing an occupational safety and health violation that caused a death of Melena, 62.
Florez, Rodriguez, and the company are scheduled to be arraigned on May 27. If convicted, the two employees each face up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Bumble Bee could be fined up to $1.5 million.
In a statement, Bumble Bee described Melena’s death as a “tragic accident,” but the company disagrees with and is “disappointed by the charges” because the California Division of Occupational Safety & Health “found no willful violations related to the accident. Therefore, the company disputed the charges in a statement.
“We disagree with and are disappointed by the charges filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. We are currently exploring all options with respect to those charges and will proceed in the manner that best serves the needs of the Melena family, our employees and the Company.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey also made a statement. She said the charges against Bumble Bee Foods are part of her goal to enhance the prosecution of workplace safety issues.
“We take worker safety very seriously. Although the Bumble Bee investigation began in 2012, this case represents our commitment to protecting workers from illegal — and, potentially, deadly — on-the-job practices.”
[Image via Getty Images]
