Aguilera

Introduction

Plaintiff Juan Aguilera sued his employer Henry Soss & Co. for injuries sustained while working on a power press. Because plaintiff was injured during the course and scope of his employment, he is limited to the remedies provided by the workers’ compensation system unless he can place himself within a recognized exception to that system’s exclusivity provisions. Plaintiff relies upon the exception found in Labor Code section 4558 which, in pertinent part, permits a worker to sue his employer when injured by a power press being operated without a point of operation guard if the power press was designed and manufactured to include a point of operation guard and the employer either removed or failed to install as specified the point of operation guard. The trial court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding there was no basis for liability under section 4558. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

In pertinent part, plaintiff’s complaint alleged: “Plaintiff’s employer Henry Soss & Co. and Does 1 through 100, Inclusive, allowed Plaintiff to operate a Power Punch Press with knowledge of the removal of, or knowledge of the failure to…