A Hickory, North Carolina, furniture manufacturer is at the center of a wrongful death lawsuit after an employee was shot and killed on the job by another employee.
The wrongful death lawsuit was brought forward by Justin Marlow, the husband of 51-year-old victim Phelifia “Michelle” Marlow. Marlow and his attorney Lyndon Helton filed the complaint, which names the furniture manufacturer TCS Designs; the company's president, Jobie G. Redmond; the plant manager, Jeff McKinney; and another individual, Eric Parker, who also served as a manager at the company during the time of the shooting.
The shooting happened on January 13th, 2021, while Marlow was working at TCS Designs. She was shot and killed by another employee, 50-year-old Tangela Parker. Following the shooting, Parker fled town with her husband Eric Parker, 62. The couple was found in Arizona six months later and were arrested and brought back to Hickory to face charges. Tangela Parker was charged with one count of murder, and her husband was charged with one count of accessory after the fact.
As part of the complaint, Marlow accuses the defendants of knowing that Tangela Parker, who was an employee at the time, was making violent threats toward Michelle Marlow. Despite these threats, the furniture manufacturer and the named employees failed to fire Parker. Helton shared that on January 4, 2021, Parker was suspended for three days from work after she violently threatened Marlow.
Helton also shared with local news outlet the Hickory Record, “It’s our position that the action and the inaction of these people that we sued … that they contributed, and they were all causes, of the murder that occurred,” Helton said. “We aren’t saying they pulled the trigger, but Tangela Parker was a known danger, yet they allowed her to continue to be present in that plant.”
Marlow alleges that because the company did not take the necessary and appropriate actions toward Parker, their negligence was the cause of his wife's death. On behalf of his client, Helton shared, “She (Tangela Parker) kills Michelle on the company floor. That would have never happened if this company just abided by rules of decency and their own company policies, and taken appropriate discipline and gotten rid of her.”
Helton goes on to say that because Parker's husband was highly valued at the furniture company, this may have caused a conflict of interest which kept the company from terminating Tangela Parker.
As part of the suit, the Marlow family is asking for $25,000 in punitive damages. This latest suit is separate from another wrongful death lawsuit that was filed against Tangela Parker herself. In that lawsuit, the Marlow family is asking for $10,000 in punitive damages. Helton shared that the two cases will be joined into one as the case moves forward.
