Bumble Bee answers charges in worker oven death

Bumble Bee Foods and two of the company’s former employees are pleading not guilty to charges connected with the accidental death of a worker in one of the company’s industrial ovens.

According to local media, the workers pleaded not guilty in a Los Angeles County Superior Court to three felony counts alleging their negligence in the death of Jose Melena, 62. Melena was killed in October 2012 when he became trapped in the back of a 35-foot-long cylindrical oven used to cook cans of tuna. Melena died after he was sealed inside and cooked alive.

If convicted, both workers face up to three years in prison and fines up to USD 250,000 (EUR 227,823). The company could face fines of up to USD 1.5 million (EUR 1.4 million).