Smucker sued by contractor who fell in hole at donut factory

A Central Arkansas man is suing snack maker J.M. Smucker Co. after falling 12 feet from a platform at the Hostess plant in Gum Springs.

Smucker Retail Foods Inc. was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Clark County Circuit Court. Pulaski County resident Larry Campbell, the plaintiff, claims that he fell through a hole in a platform while doing work at the plant on Oct. 4, 2023. Campbell’s namesake sheet metal company had been contracted by Smucker/Hostess for work at the plant, which at the time was undergoing renovations to transform the former Danfoss factory into a bakery to manufacture Donettes snacks.

Campbell “was on an equipment platform set approximately 12 feet in altitude, as he rounded the corner he stepped in a hole in [the] platform,” according to a two-page complaint drafted by Campbell’s attorneys, the Brad Hendricks Law Firm. There was no grate or other protective device covering the hole through which Campbell fell, the complaint alleges.

Campbell says he has since been unable to work and has incurred medical expenses resulting from the fall. He’s seeking at least $75,000 from the damages, and expects the case to be heard by a jury.