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Best Source of Up-to-Date news on workers' compensation and disability in New York

New York workers killed in Brooklyn tortilla factory accident

Posted on Jan 29, 2011

A New York worker is dead after a tragic accident that happened in a Brooklyn tortilla factory. The accident happened when the worker, whose name has not been released, fell into a dough mixing machine. The machine is waist-high, and the man was unable to get out before he was killed.

As a result of the accident the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board closed the factory, Tortilleria Chinantla. According to WCB authorities, the factory had been running since March 2010 without workers’ comp insurance. The factory had amassed $56,000 in penalties as a result, and these lapses plus now an employee death means it had to be closed.

The owner of Tortilleria Chinantla, Erasmo Ponce, refused to discuss the case with reporters, although he had earlier blamed “human error” for the workers’ death. A workers’ rights group countered that the working conditions inside the tortilla factory were like a sweatshop.

The families of workers who are killed on the job are usually eligible for New York workers’ compensation death benefits. Read more about this in our article, “What you need to know about workers’ comp death benefits”

If someone in your family was killed in an accident on-the-job, regardless of what their employer or insurance company tells you – please talk to a lawyer before you sign anything. Call us toll-free at (866) 205-2415 to talk to one of our attorneys for free.