Malden Mills Settles Suit With Injured Workers

Malden Mills reached a settlement on December 6 with 13 workers who were injured during an explosion at the company's Lawrence, Mass., factory on December 11, 1995. The settlement was approved by the state's Department of Industrial Accidents.

The settlement was for an undisclosed lump sum that will be divided between the workers by an impartial arbiter, says Ernst B. Weglein, Malden Mills' lawyer.

The company will also continue to pay medical expenses for injuries suffered as a result of the incident. Those who are not employed or who are not eligible to receive medical insurance for non-related medical needs will receive a stipend to pay for medical insurance. There is also a separate amount to compensate for disfigurement.

The victims, who suffered severe burns, alleged Malden Mills was at fault for the evening explosion and fire that destroyed three buildings. The explosion occurred at 8 p.m. in the flock building. At the time, 400 people were working to manufacture the soft fabric used for low-end upholstery and child car seats.

"These people who were injured, they are the unfortunate ones—they're scarred for life," says Weglein. "Just because they got money doesn't make them rich people. But we're satisfied they got something out of it. At least economically, they don't have to suffer even if they still bare the scars of the disfigurement."

In May 2000, the victims won a settlement from DuPont, Bayer Corp., Novalis Fibres, Rhone-Poulenc and other Malden Mills vendors who provided materials and services to the company.

The basis of their suit against the vendors is the same as the Malden Mills suit against the same vendors, says Weglein.

"We're saying that the most probable cause of the fire is that short cut fiber, called flock, acts like a dust under certain circumstances and in the right combination of density of fiber in the air and the energy to ignite this fiber, you have a situation that will go boom in the night," he says. "We're saying the vendors of the fiber knew or should have known that this could happen and they should have told us."

Malden Mills alleges other vendors did not provide adequate fire safety protection and information.

Malden Mills' lawsuit is currently in discovery and is scheduled for trial in 2002. —E.T.