Frito-Lay worker Brandon Ingram is speaking out about the pain, trauma, and harassment he suffered after allegedly being severely electrocuted on the job, leaving him disabled and denied medical care.
Brandon and his wife Melissa claim they and their four young children are being stalked and secretly filmed by agents of the company. Melissa has launched a GoFundMe to raise money for her beauty business, which she describes as “our last hope of having a future.”
In a lengthy statement shared on the campaign page and video from More Perfect Union, Melissa unpacks the day her husband nearly lost his life on the job when he was allegedly electrocuted. Watch her share the story via the clip below.
The fundraiser, in part, reads:
The electrocution was severe and has led to many health issues. He has had two spinal surgeries so far and we know for sure there will be another next year. We are not sure how many surgeries he will need in all. It’s a scary situation and has been made even worse by Frito-Lay and PepsiCo’s treatment of our family. It’s been over 4 years and we are still fighting for my husband’s life, with zero support from the company. They are denying responsibility for the accident even though the incident happened on the job. We have done everything they and their insurance company have asked of us but it is still not enough.
Melissa goes on to accuse Frito-Lay of treating its workers “like slaves” that they discard “like garbage when they are no longer able to work their inhumane hours”
She recalls how her husband joined the Frito-Lay team in St. Louis, Missouri, after returning home from serving in the Navy. He was ultimately “put in charge of four different positions” and “literally broke his back working 84 hours a week.”
“We want justice for our pain and suffering as well as all the medical bills we have had to pay ourselves,” the campaign states.
The family claims Frito-Lay and PepsiCo’s have refused to “help with disability or workers’ comp,” and that the couple “have drained all our savings and pensions, even our kids college funds. We have had to change our goals and replan our entire lives around this devastating injury.” Injured employees like Ingram who are having difficulties getting a fair compensation may need to seek the services of a workers compensation lawyer.
“I never expected to be in this position,” Melissa writes.
“My husband and I have four young children and we worked hard to make sure we could give them a good future. Those plans all came crashing down when he was hurt on the job.”
The family intends to use the funds raised in the campaign to “lease a retail space, build it out to suit our business needs, purchase equipment for making products in higher quantities, pay for labor, fund a payroll account to create jobs in my community, and market our products.”
“This business is our last hope,” she writes.
When theGrio reached out to the campaign organizer for comment about the public’s reaction since the couple shared their story, we received the following response:
Thank you so much for your support… We are extremely grateful for the
support we have received so far. We ask that everyone please continue to
share our story. Currently, there has been no reply from Frito-Lay or
PepsiCo. I didn’t expect there to be.
One Facebook user responded to the family’s plight by noting, “Big Corporations don’t give a rat’s ass about you after you get hurt on the job, making them more money than you’ll ever have in your lifetime X10! I hope you have a Good Lawyer who will FIGHT FOR YOUR rights as an EMPLOYEE WHO GOT HURT AT WORK. Our prayers are up for just this for you. Stay Strong. Don’t back down. STAND YOUR GROUND.”
Another commented, “So very sorry. Big corporations are pure evil. They do not care. Nothing but a number. Prayers.”
A third added, “Please stop stocking PepsiCo Frito Lay products until they start treating their workers humanely. This is deplorable.”
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