A North Carolina jury has awarded $14.6 million to seven people hurt in an explosion at a now closed ConAgra Slim Jim factory in Garner, N.C. The jurors awarded more than $12 million to two former ConAgra workers, Leonard Spruill and Anthony Smith, for medical care and lost wages. Five other workers will receive the rest of the compensatory damages award.

The jury will return in June to consider punitive damages against Jacobs Engineering, Group Inc. and one of its employees. The company was held responsible for the blast which happened as its workers were purging a gas line to install water heaters. Three people were killed in the June 2009 explosion, and 38 of the 300 workers in the plant were injured.

Source: Claims Journal