Bumble Bee Foods pays $6M for worker cooked in oven

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Bumble Bee Foods has agreed to pay $6 million to settle criminal charges in the death of a Los Angeles-area worker who was cooked in an oven with tons of tuna.

District Attorney Jackie Lacey says the settlement announced Wednesday is the largest payout in a California workplace violation death.

The settlement includes a $1.5 million payment to the family of Jose Melena, who died three years ago in a 270-degree oven at the company’s Santa Fe Springs plant.

Melena was trapped after a co-worker mistakenly believed he was in the bathroom and filled a pressure cooker with six tons of canned tuna.

The company will also upgrade ovens, pay fines and penalties and provide $750,000 to the district attorney’s office to fund workplace safety investigations.