Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN) (11/26/12) Kate Harrison

Tennessee officials have fined TAG Manufacturing nearly $16,000 in the death of a plant worker. TAG employee Larry Chubbs was killed May 7 when a panel of a catwalk on a large machine became dislodged and he fell into the fast-moving machinery below. After investigating the conditions surrounding Chubbs’ death, the Tennessee Department of Labor fined the company $14,500 for five safety violations deemed “serious” and an additional $1,350 for nine “nonserious” citations. TAG has contested at least four of the penalties.

Chubbs had worked at TAG several years before the accident but left. He recently had gone back to work there as a temporary employee through a staffing firm. Chubbs’ family has hired an attorney and has been negotiating with his temporary firm to receive workers’ compensation funds, says TAG’s attorney Mike Carter.