New Filing In Mohawk Lawsuit

Atlanta, GA, Nov. 13--A filing in a lawsuit against Mohawk Industries Inc. claims the nation's second-largest carpet maker has withheld crucial evidence and tried to silence a witness in the case of a rookie police officer who died in an accident at one of the company's Georgia plants. Nancy Vaughn, a former security guard at Mohawk's Chatsworth plant, was twice instructed by the company not to tell anyone what she saw the night of Officer Jonathan Cole Martin's death or she could be fired, according to court papers a lawyer for the victim's family filed Thursday. It is an allegation that Mohawk's general counsel, Salvatore Perillo, vigorously denies. "That's absolutely erroneous," Perillo said of the silencing claim. "The company doesn't operate that way--that's a fact, emphatically." Vaughn also alleges Mohawk left a security post that was responsible for latching an unwieldy security gate each day unstaffed on the night of the April 25 accident in an effort to save money, the court papers say. Martin's family says in their lawsuit the gate was unsecured and swung open, slicing through the officer's cruiser and killing him; Mohawk claims the officer crashed into the gate. The suit filed Aug. 20 in Murray County Superior Court, in north Georgia, seeks unspecified damages. The 20-year-old Martin had been on the 4,500-resident town's police force for only seven months. Perillo said Vaughn worked at the company at the time of the accident, but he could not say in what capacity. It's not clear why she no longer works there. The motion says Vaughn has voluntarily provided information to lawyers for Martin's family. Another issue raised in the motion is Perillo's own statements to the media. In an interview with The Associated Press in September, Perillo said that following an accident involving the gate eight months before Martin's death, Mohawk put an arm and chain over the security fence so it couldn't swing open. The motion says that, in a deposition, Perillo confirmed making the statement to AP, but said it was based on his conversations with three Mohawk employees and an insurance agent. On Thursday, Perillo confirmed that his previous statements were not based on his own observations. But he said he stands by the account. The motion also says Mohawk has refused to turn over documents relating to prior accidents involving the security gate. Perillo said Mohawk has complied with the law and is in the process of turning over more documents. A trial date has not yet been scheduled. Martin's death followed the death of Kentrell Taylor at Mohawk's Milledgeville plant in July 2002. In that case, an unsecured metal railing fell on top of the 9-year-old boy and killed him while he was waiting for his mother to pick up some wood the company was giving away, according to a lawyer for his family. Mohawk settled with the family in that case for $750,000 before a lawsuit was filed.