Judge rules Autoneum must pay family of woman killed in 2017 Jeffersonville factory death

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An auto parts maker must pay the family of a woman who died at its Jeffersonville plant the same amount it has sent to the Chinese company that made the machine that killed her, a judge ruled this week.

The ruling, issued by Judge Justin B. Brown in Floyd County Circuit Court on Wednesday, requires Autoneum North America Inc. to compensate Melissa Stephens’ estate for the money it has paid Feilong Nonwoven Machinery Co. Ltd. since early 2022.

Feilong was ruled liable in 2021 for Stephens’ death at Autoneum in 2017, finding the Chinese manufacturer was responsible under Indiana law for a "design defect" and building and selling a product in a "defective condition." It was ordered to pay $10 million to Stephens' estate, plus annual interest for every year it didn't do so.

But that hasn’t happened, prompting lawyers for Stephens’ surviving children to try and garnish money that Autoneum has sent to Feilong.

Autoneum argued in court filings that any payments weren’t subject to garnishment and "there is never any money due and owing from Autoneum to Feilong.” The Swiss-based company said it must prepay for the parts it buys from Feilong.

Brown’s ruling found that Autoneum’s argument wasn’t backed by Indiana law or the facts of the case.

“It confirms what we had believed, which is that if they want to continue doing business, if Autoneum wants to continue doing business with Feilong they can -- but they're going to have to pay the estate dollar for dollar everything that they send over to China for this company that again, we've basically demonstrated, killed one of their employees,” said David Agnew, an attorney for the Stephens estate.

He estimated the amount owed to date to be around $100,000.

Stephens, 44, was working at Autoneum’s factory in the River Ridge Commerce Center in October when she died from injuries sustained from an accident with a machine, according to the Clark County Coroner's Office.

The Indiana Department of Labor, which manages the state's workplace safety program, initially fined Autoneum $224,000 in connection with her death. Safety regulators found that Autoneum employees "were not effectively trained to identify and control hazardous energy," such as that from belts and pulleys that created potential hazards.

They also noted that company didn't develop and enact related procedures and concluded that Autoneum didn't create a workplace setting that was "reasonably safe and healthful for employees" and that pulleys and belts on the machine exposed workers to hazards.

Autoneum and Indiana's labor agency eventually agreed to a lower penalty — $14,000 — in December 2017, with two of the proposed penalties deleted and two others lowered from "knowing" to "serious."

Autoneum did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this week’s ruling, including whether it plans to appeal the ruling.