A See’s Candies worker has filed a civil lawsuit claiming her employer failed to prevent the spread of coronavirus and alleging the lack of safety measures led to her husband’s death.
Plaintiff Matilde Ek, a 70-year-old See’s Candies worker assigned to the Carson, California, facility’s packing line, says she became infected by the coronavirus in March.
Ek reports being in proximity to her coworkers at the time without regard to social distancing, not only on the line, but in the break rooms and bathrooms, as well. She says she was only a few feet from other See’s Candies workers who were sneezing and coughing.
Ek says See’s Candies workers expressed their concerns directly with supervisors and with the union, but nothing was done to address those concerns.
“Defendants failed to operate and conduct their business as would and should be expected to protect their employees, including Plaintiff, from the known high risk of this viral infection by failing to put known, appropriate and necessary safety mitigation measures in place,” Ek said in the complaint.
During this time, according to Ek, she and other See’s Candies workers were infected.
After Ek tested positive for coronavirus, she took time off work to recover at home. That’s when her husband, 72-year-old Arturo Ek, and one of her daughters became sick with the virus, according to the lawsuit.
While her daughter eventually recovered, Ek’s husband died from the virus April 20.
Ek argues See’s Candies workers were entitled to better protection.
“Defendants knew or should have known that their failure … would increase the known and foreseeable risk that their workers, like Plaintiff, would become infected in the course and scope of their work for Defendants, and carry said viral infection home infecting one or more of their family members,” she said.
Ek is seeking damages in her wrongful death lawsuit and is formally accusing See’s Candies of general negligence, premises liability and dangerous condition of public property.
Ek’s wrongful death lawsuit joins scores of litigation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
In December, Tyson Foods was hit with a similar lawsuit for the second time, with the plaintiff claiming the company’s meat-packing plants did not provide necessary personal protective equipment.
Tyson Foods’ top executives were suspended in November after it was found they were betting on how many of the company’s workers would get sick with the coronavirus, according to ABC News.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn introduced a bill in July that would limit the liability of businesses when it comes to employees’ COVID-19 exposure. Those protections were cited by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as the reason for not allowing the Senate to vote on $2,000 relief checks last week, MSN reported.
What do you think of the lawsuit filed by the See’s Candies worker? Do you think the company is negligent? Let us know in the comments below.
Counsel representing the plaintiffs in this lawsuit is Joel Krissman of Krissman & Silver LLP.
The See’s Candies Worker Lawsuit is Matilde Ek, et al. v. See’s Candies Inc., et al., Case No. 20STCV49673, in Los Angeles Superior Court.
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3 thoughts onSee’s Candies Worker Files COVID Wrongful Death Lawsuit
I worked for Sees Candies in their call center at the Carson location as well. Sees “See-E-O” only cares about one thing and thats making as much money as possible. He could careless about his employees and their well being. In the office i worked at people were getting sick left and right i had three coworkers who sat close to me catch the virus and Sees never let anyone know those people were sick. It was so scary and frustrating. They were more worried about us making sells than our health. I went to HR about my concerns and how i took the liberty to measure how far our desk were from each other and that we were closer than we should of been. The HR manager got really angry with me and told me that i would of had to have been closer to those people and it takes 15 mins to contract the virus … Apparently in his head he works for the cdc because how did he any of the management know that coworkers werent carpooling to work together or having lunch together we werent properly distanced from one another obviously could of gotten it that way. Sees candies is negligent in protecting their employees. They have people risking their lives for stupid candy
SEES candies in Carson need to be audited and the CEO should go in depth on each department to see how its run. Noone but management knew who was sick. And they kept silent when we were suppose to get notice within 24hours so other workers could see if they were within the distance to contract the virus could get tested. It was hush hush. The meetings we had were ineffective and we still dont distance, its impossible. This isnt that facilities only problem. All management here are masongenists and sexist. Where I work, women dont get to use power equiptment. In the other warehouse, the only girl there for last 15 yrs had to take it to NLRB just to touch the machines. Every move this company makes is a compromise to its quality. I hope managers come in from other locations and ask employees for the real info. Their hotline is a joke that stops with HR.
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