Worker says she risked discipline if she left job amid storm

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — An employee of the Kentucky candle factory where eight workers were killed by a tornado says a supervisor threatened her with written disciplinary action if she went home early because storms were approaching. Haley Conder worked at the Mayfield Consumer Products factory on and off for 10 years. In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, she questioned why the company did not encourage workers to go home — or at least give them a better understanding of the danger — between a first tornado siren around 6 p.m. Friday and another one around 9 p.m., shortly before the tornado hit. A spokesman for the company insisted that employees were free to leave anytime.