LeFiell Manufacturing Co. v. Superior Court

Labor Code section 4558 provides an exception to the exclusivity of the workers’ compensation system for employees injured as a result of the employer’s knowing removal of, or knowing failure to install, a point of operation guard on a power press. The issue presented here is the correct definition and application of the term “point of operation guard.” The meaning of this term is not defined in the statute, and this term has never specifically been defined in case law. A point of operation guard, however, always has been assumed to be an apparatus or device that protects a worker’s hands and body parts from the area on the power press where the die imparts shape to material by impact or pressure.

LeFiell Manufacturing Company (LeFiell) filed a petition for writ of mandate challenging an order denying its summary judgment motion on the section 4558 claim asserted in this action. The trial court concluded there was a triable issue of fact as to whether a door that was removed from the Fenn 5F swaging machine operated by plaintiff O’Neil Watrous was a point of operation guard. The door was several inches from the dies in the bed of the swaging machine where the material…