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• Two men injured when vehicle strikes tree
• Ellsworth Creamery reaches settlement in lawsuit

Two men were taken to hospitals Sunday morning after their vehicle left the road, struck a tree and then caught fire.

According to Deputy Thomas Bauer of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, the accident took place at around 2:15 a.m. Sunday on 530th Avenue, just west of Highway 10 in the Town of Trimbelle.

Corey Carpenter, 39, Ellsworth, and Damian Petersen, 39, Andover, MD., were in the vehicle at the time, but authorities are not sure which of the two was driving at the time.

Carpenter was taken to the River Falls Area Hospital where he was admitted and on Monday morning was reported in good condition by a hospital spokesperson.

Petersen was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul by the Ellsworth Ambulance Service where he was reported in good condition on Monday morning.

Both men had undetermined injuries, according to Bauer.

The Ellsworth police and fire departments also assisted on the scene.

The accident remains under investigation.

By Kevin Murphy

The Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery has reached an out-of-court confidential settlement with production workers who alleged the creamery violated federal law by not paying them paid overtime for certain hours they worked.

The case had been slated for trial last month in Madison, but just prior to the case being tried, attorneys for the parties phoned the court to say the matter had been settled, according to a court clerk.

To date, no dismissal notice has been entered in the case's public files, retained by the court. Nathan Eisenberg, attorney for the workers, has declined to comment on the case; General Manager Kenneth McMahon also declined comment on whether the creamery's overtime compensation practices have changed. McMahon referred questions about the case to the co-op's attorney, Thomas Misfelt, who hasn't returned repeated requests for comment.

In the suit filed last summer, 25 of the unionized employees alleged the creamery doesn't pay them for the overtime for the 10 minutes they are required to be at work and ready before punching in. The employees also contend they aren't paid for the minutes during which they can't leave work until their replacement is in place

Get more on this story in this week's print edition of the Pierce County Herald.