Aug 13, 2015 09:50 PM EDT
Bumble Bee Settlement: Tuna Company Agrees To Pay Record Amount of $6 Million After Employee Burned To Death in Oven

Bumble Bee Settlement - Los Angeles prosecutors said Wednesday that the canned-tuna producer, Bumble Bee Foods, has agreed to a record $6 million settlement over the death of one of their workers who had been cooked to death in an industrial oven together with 12,000 lbs of fish three years ago. Along with the company, two managers were charged for the incident. All pleaded guilty Wednesday, according to RT.

The Bumble Bee settlement, worth a staggering $6 million, is reportedly the largest payout in California when it comes to the criminal prosecution of a workplace safety case with a single victim, said the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Under the Bumble Bee settlement agreements, the company will be implementing other safety measures as well as spending $3 million for the purchase of new ovens at its Los Angeles plant that employees no longer need to enter.

In restitution to victim Jose Melena's family, the company is also required to pay $1.5 million. They also need to pay the district attorney's environmental enforcement fund $750,000 and another payout of $750,000 for additional fines, court costs and penalties, according to Reuters.

Once all conditions of the Bumble Bee settlement has been finalized, Lion Capital LLP-owned Bumble Bee will be allowed by the court to plead guilty to misdemeanor charge, the district attorney's office said.

"While this resolution will help bring closure with the district attorney's office, we will never forget the unfathomable loss of our colleague Jose Melena and we are committed to ensuring that employee safety remains a top priority at all our facilities," said Bumble Bee in a written statement.

The two managers, Director of Operations Angel Rodriguez and Former Safety Manager Saul Florez, have been given sanctions of their own, according to prosecutors.

Rodriguez has agreed to performing 320 hours of community service, pay $11,400 in fines and penalties and undergo workplace safety classes in order to plead a misdemeanour charge. As for Florez, he will undergo three years probation, 30 days of community labor and safety classes, and pay $19,000 in fines after pleading guilty to criminal safety violations Wednesday. His felony conviction will be reduced to a misdemeanour only if such requirements are fulfilled.

Melena died after about six years of service to the company, causing the record Bumble Bee settlement. On Oct. 11, 2012, the 62-year-old crawled into the company's Santa Fe Springs plant's 35-foot-long cylindrical pressure cooker. As part of his duties, Melena needed to load pallets of canned tuna into the oven.

Melena's co-workers then packed 12,000 pounds of canned tuna inside the oven, closed it and turned it on, unknowing that the elderly man was inside. Two hours later, his badly burned remains were found by another employee after their supervisor noticed Melena missing and conducted a search in the plant and parking lot.

Prosecutors said Melena's family has agreed to the Bumble Bee settlement, but they have declined requests for comment, according to the Associated Press.

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