A worker whose finger was amputated while working filed a lawsuit against the representative, but lost the case.

A worker who suffered a finger amputation accident while working at a factory filed a lawsuit against the company representative for damages, but lost.

According to the legal community on the 17th, the Busan District Court ruled on the 15th of last month that the plaintiff, A, in his 30s, who was a worker at a food company, lost the lawsuit for damages filed against CEO B.

While working at a food factory in 2023, Mr. A suffered an accident where his finger got caught in a vegetable grinder and was amputated.

Accordingly, Mr. A filed a lawsuit claiming that Mr. B was responsible for violating his duty of care by unreasonably urging him to work and failing to provide safety or job training.

However, Mr. B refuted Mr. A's claim, saying that sufficient training was provided on how to use the shredder and safety rules.

In addition, Mr. A claimed that the accident occurred while he was arbitrarily trying to remove food residue without turning off the machine.

The court ruled in favor of Mr. B, saying, "If you look at the instructions for using the machine, if the shredder stops working due to an overload problem, you must turn off the power and solve the problem. This information is attached to the front of the shredder, so the workers were able to fully understand the contents."

At the same time, the reason for the sentencing was stated, "The defendant made the workers, including the plaintiff, aware of the usage rules every morning, and the plaintiff also operated the machine according to the manual until the accident," and "The accident appears to have occurred while the plaintiff was working in violation of the safety rules."

Lawyer Han Jong-hoon of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. B, explained, "Mr. A has been using the shredder for over a year without any problems immediately after joining the company, and none of the other workers who were in charge of the same work were injured. Since the accident occurred due to working against work instructions, it should be seen that Mr. B had no intention or negligence at all."

Jeong Eui-jin (jej88@ikbc.co.kr)

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Worker whose finger was amputated while working filed lawsuit against representative, but 'lost' (link)