Dryer Death Update

By Associated Press

Tulsa, OK – Judge orders settlement meeting in Cintas case

TULSA, Okla. (AP) A federal judge is ordering a meeting between Cintas Corp. and the widow of a former employee who is suing the company to try to settle her 2007 wrongful death lawsuit.

The order this week from U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul J. Cleary is a last attempt to settle the case before a jury trial would begin in April against the nation's largest uniform supplier.

Amalia Diaz Torres is suing Cincinnati-based Cintas, claiming the company's plant managers knew about and even encouraged the dangerous working practices that led to the death of her husband, Eleazar Torres-Gomez, in 2007.

Cintas has denied those allegations, saying it never puts profits over worker safety.

At a settlement conference in March, both sides failed to reach an out-of-court agreement.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.