Family of Pregnant Mother Killed by Power Press Files Lawsuit
Complaint Alleges Reckless Disregard for Worker Safety Led to Death of Printing Press Employee
San Francisco, October 29, 2008 – Today in San Francisco County Superior Court, a lawsuit (CGC 08-473643) was filed against Pre-Press International, Match Machinery, Inc. and Ko Tai International Development, Inc. for the wrongful death of Margarita Mojica, who was killed while working at a power press machine in January 2008. The suit accuses the defendants of negligence and product liability for removing or failing to install necessary safety guards on the seven-ton power press. As a result, Mojica, who was four-months pregnant at the time, became entangled in the heavy machine and was crushed to death.
“This tragedy is a direct result of blatant disregard for worker safety. Because of defendants’ choices, Margarita was required to work on a seven-ton power press that lacked common safety guards, which would have prevented the machine from crushing her and saved her life,” said Cynthia McGuinn, a senior trial lawyer at The Veen Firm, which represents Mojica’s husband, Martin Breuer, and their now six year-old daughter, Julie. “There is no justification for an employer and others involved in the manufacture, distribution and sale of such potentially hazardous equipment to knowingly place employees in harm’s way. Absent safety guards, the power press was a dangerous and defective machine. Martin and Julie have been deprived of the family and life that Martin and Margarita were creating together."
The suit charges that the power press operated by Mojica, a ML 1400 Creasing and Cutting Machine, was not equipped with mandatory safety guards. Operating in a “clamshell” manner, with a large metal plate that opens and closes against a fixed metal plate, the power press was required by law to have point-of-operation safeguarding devices intended to keep workers’ body parts safely outside the point of operation, or to disable the machine should a body part come into contact.
Mojica, a 26-year-old mother and wife from Oakland, Calif., reported to work on Jan. 29, 2008. Four months pregnant, she had just shared the good news with her co-workers that very morning. Shortly thereafter, Mojica became entangled in the power press and was crushed between its metal plates, but was not immediately killed. A coworker called 911, but by the time firefighters and paramedics arrived, Mojica was pronounced dead and a tool was used to pry her body from the power press.
Defendant Pre-Press International, which does business as Digital Pre-Press International, located in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, creates large-format print media products. Match Machinery is located in Westlake Village, Calif., and Ko Tai International’s principal place of business is Irwindale, Calif.
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