Gelman: Trench Injury Not an Intentional Wrong

Monday, July 8, 2024 | 0

A federal court held that injuries sustained while cleaning a trench conveyor trim removal system at a paper manufacturing facility did not meet the threshold test for an intentional tort.

Jon L. Gelman

Facts

• The plaintiff was hired by the employer, IPC, as a machine operator.
• IPC operates a corrugated box manufacturing facility with a trench conveyor trim removal system.
• The system removes waste materials, but some fall into a pit, requiring manual cleaning.
• IPC did not provide specific training for cleaning the pit and offered overtime pay to entry-level employees for the task.
• The cleaning occurred while the machinery was still operating with unguarded moving parts.
• On the day of the incident, the plaintiff was directed to clean the pit while the machine was operational. His glove got caught in the rollers, crushing his arm.
• Employees cleaning the pit were not trained or authorized to shut down the machine.

Legal issues

• Whether the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) bars the plantiff's intentional tort claim against IPC.

New Jersey WCA

• Requires employers to provide compensation for workplace injuries without regard to fault.
• Employees relinquish their right to sue for common-law remedies unless the injury resulted from the employer's "intentional wrong."

Two-prong test

• Conduct prong requires the employer to act with the knowledge that its conduct carries a "substantial certainty" of injury or death. Mere knowledge of a dangerous workplace is not enough.
• Context prong analyzes whether the injury is "plainly beyond anything the Legislature could have contemplated as entitling the employee to recover only under the Compensation Act."

Court's decision

• Dismissed the claim against IPC.
• The plaintiff failed to meet the burden of proof for either prong of the intentionally wrong test.
• Conduct prong: The TAC (third amended complaint) does not allege facts demonstrating IPC knew its practices were virtually certain to result in injury.
• Context prong: Injury from cleaning machinery is considered a normal part of "industrial life" within the WCA's scope.

Plaintiff's opportunity to amend complaint

• The plaintiff can file a new complaint within 14 days, addressing the deficiencies identified by the court.
• The amended complaint should focus on factual allegations establishing IPC's knowledge of substantial certainty of harm and removing IPC from the other counts.

Claimants' attorney Jon L. Gelman is the author of "New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Law" and co-author of the national treatise "Modern Workers’ Compensation Law." He is based in Wayne, New Jersey. This blog post is republished with permission.