Laidlow v. Hariton Machinery Co., Inc.

Rudolph Laidlow (plaintiff), while operating a rolling mill for AMI-DDC (defendant), had his glove caught in the machine and suffered serious injuries including partial amputation of most of his fingers. AMI had installed a safety guard on the mill but routinely disabled it for convenience, only reactivating it when federal safety inspectors visited and then disabling it again afterward - conduct AMI itself admitted. For nearly 13 years, Laidlow had operated the machine without the guard, experiencing several near-miss close calls where his glove got caught but he managed to pull his hand free before serious injury, incidents he reported to AMI personnel, and in the month before his accident he asked his supervisor three separate times to restore the guard given how dangerous the unguarded machine was, especially for new, inexperienced operators - nothing was done. Laidlow sued AMI, Hariton Machinery (the mill's manufacturer, for discovery purposes), and his supervisor for an intentional tort, seeking to escape the exclusive workers' compensation remedy; the trial court granted AMI summary judgment finding no 'intentional wrong,' and the appellate division affirmed before the state supreme court granted review.