Underage press operator cannot sue owner of unguarded press
Joshua Sparks sued Century Tool & Die and several other defendants after severely injuring both hands operating an unguarded press. The Court of Appeals ruled that the lower court erred in deciding the factual issue of who owned the press, but still upheld the dismissal of the claim against Century. It ruled that the owner of a press owes no duty to assure that it is properly guarded once it is provided to other parties to operate. Of course, the underaged employee cannot recover damages from his employer, either, because he is limited to workers' compensation benefits. And, most likely, since he retains some residual earning capacity and worked for a low wage, he will get nothing in the way of wage loss if the Republicans are successful with "worker's compensation reform."