WEST READING, Pa. — The Berks County candy maker whose factory was destroyed in an explosion last month ignored warnings of a gas leak at the West Reading-based facility, resulting in the death of seven workers and injuries to several others, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the family of one of the deceased.
The family of Judith Lopez-Moran filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the R.M. Palmer Co.
Lopez-Moran was a 55-year-old mother of three who died in the March 24 explosion that destroyed the facility.
The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that workers smelled gas on the day of the explosion and alerted the management at the company, but nothing was done to address it.
“The gas leak at the factory and the horrific explosion it caused was foreseeable, predictable, and preventable,” the lawsuit claims. “Tragically, Judith Lopez-Moran’s death and suffering were preventable.”
The lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, also names the utility company UGI as a defendant.
The cause of the explosion, which destroyed a building in the factory complex and damaged several others nearby, remains under investigation.
But the National Transportation Safety Board has called what happened a “natural gas” explosion and fire, citing preliminary information from local authorities and the utility about the pipeline's role.
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial and seeks damages in excess of $50,000 "for pain and suffering, embarrassment, humiliation, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life undergone by the decedent as a result of the Defendants’ tortuous conduct, up to and including the time of death, and damages for the amount that Judith-Lopez Moran would have earned from the date of her death to the end of her life expectancy."
This is the second lawsuit known to be filed in the aftermath of the explosion.
On March 28, attorneys representing Betty Wright, who lived in an apartment near the explosion site on South Second Avenue, filed a lawsuit against the company in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, court records show.
Wright claims the company's negligence, which includes the failure to "properly inspect, repair and/or test the property," led to the catastrophic explosion.
The suit claims Wright suffered cervical, lumbar, hip and leg injuries, along with anxiety and loss of personal belongings.
She also suffered scarring and permanent disfigurement, along with "significant" wage loss and an impairment to her earning capacity and potential, the lawsuit says.
Wright's lawsuit is also asking for damages in excess of $50,000.