Hunt v. Ohio Dept. of Rehabilitation & Correction

Lesa Hunt (plaintiff), an inmate assigned to a prison yard crew, was given only ten minutes of secondhand instruction on operating a snowblower neither she nor her supervising officer, Jenkins, had ever used before; that instruction, itself based on training Jenkins received a week earlier, specified that a clog should be cleared with water or a tool, never a bare hand, after fully shutting down the engine with the key (not just the Power Take Off switch). When the blower clogged, Hunt believed switching off the PTO fully stopped the machine, but parts continued spinning; she inserted a gloved hand into the chute to clear the clog, and the machine caught and pulled in her hand, costing her parts of three fingers. She sued the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) (defendant) for negligent training and supervision.