A lawsuit has been filed against Koch Foods of Alabama on behalf of the family of a line worker who died after an accident at the company’s chicken processing plant in Montgomery, Alabama.
The accident occurred on March 9, 2021, when Robert M. Lewis’ clothing apparently became trapped in the rotating shaft of a piece of line equipment he was cleaning at the processing plant. Unable to free himself from the hazard, Lewis was seriously injured and subsequently died from his injuries.
The Lewis family’s lawsuit, filed by Kendall C. Dunson, attorney for the Beasley Allen Law Firm, claims that Koch Foods and others’ negligence at the plant contributed to Lewis’ death. The lawsuit also claims the machinery that Lewis was cleaning was unreasonably dangerous and defective and created an unreasonable risk of severe injury or death to its intended users. The suit also includes claims against the original manufacturer and distributor of the equipment responsible for Lewis’ death.
“When Alabama workers are injured on the job, companies are bound by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act to provide death benefits to their families,” Dunson said in a press release. “When employers fail to protect a worker, an experienced attorney can help the worker’s family get the benefits to which they are entitled.”
The law firm’s press release did not offer details regarding monetary amounts sought with the suit.
The current case, Lewis v. Koch Foods of Alabama, LLC, is filed in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama, case number 03-CV-2021-901184.00.
At the time the accident was first reported, it had not yet been released that the deceased was Lewis.
Koch Foods, the sixth largest poultry company in the United States, has operations in Illinois, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee. It presently is seeking to expand its operations in Fairfield, Ohio, and Gainesville, Georgia.
