Mandolidis v. Elkins Industries, Inc.
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
246 S.E.2d 907 (W.Va. 1978)
James Mandolidis (plaintiff), a machine operator for furniture manufacturer Elkins Industries (defendant), lost two fingers and part of his hand operating a 10-inch table saw, and sued alleging Elkins had deliberately intended to injure him by continuing to use the saw without a required safety guard, in violation of industry standards and federal inspection orders, purely to boost production speed and profits, and had allegedly threatened to fire Mandolidis if he refused to use the unguarded saw. Elkins denied the allegations, claiming its foreman had actually told Mandolidis not to operate the saw alone, which Mandolidis disputed; the trial court converted Elkins's motion to dismiss into a summary judgment motion and, finding no genuine factual dispute, ruled Elkins lacked deliberate intent to injure and dismissed the complaint, prompting Mandolidis's appeal.
Whether, under West Virginia's Workmen's Compensation Act, an employer is immune from common-law actions for an employee's injuries when the employer acted with knowledge of a high degree of risk of physical harm.