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posted by CoolHand on Tuesday March 14 2017, @02:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the asimov's-ghost-is-disappointed dept.

El Reg reports

The family of a repair technician killed in an auto parts factory accident is suing five robotics companies they say are responsible.

In a suit [PDF] filed to the Western Michigan US District Court this week, the family of Wanda Holbrook claims that the companies that built, installed, and maintained the robotics at a trailer hitch assembly plant should be held liable for her fatal accident at the plant in 2015.

According to the lawsuit, Holbrook, a journeyman technician, was performing routine maintenance on one of the robots on the trailer hitch assembly line when the unit unexpectedly activated and attempted to load a part into the unit being repaired, crushing Holbrook's head.

Now Holbrook's estate is suing the three companies that built the robots (Fanuc America, Nachi Robotic, and Lincoln Electric) for failing to design adequate safeguards and protections into the robots. They're also suing two other companies that installed and maintained the unit (Flex-N-Gate, Prodomax) for failing to prevent an accident they say would have been avoided had safety been a higher priority.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 14 2017, @08:12AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 14 2017, @08:12AM (#478814)

    Later in the story, the 99 Percenters use the guillotine repeatedly to rid themselves of their oppressors.
    Every time another head gets chopped off, the crowd (in the story) roars its approval.
    Call it an adjustment to the balance of power in that society.

    .
    I'm reminded of the non-emotional response given by Michael Dukakis in a presidential "debate" regarding his Liberal stance on the death penalty.

    The brilliant Arron Sorkin did a take on this in a script [tripod.com] for "The West Wing".

    White House Communications Director TOBY ZIEGLER
    Mr. President, this next question is on capital punishment, which you oppose: If your youngest daughter Zoey was raped and murdered, would you not want to see the man responsible put to death?

    President Josiah "Jed" BARTLET
    First of all, it's important to understand the President doesn't make that decision, though he appoints the Supreme Court Justices who do so. What... any... um... All right, I'm not going to say that. I'll just go right to... No, I don't. I think you know that I'm opposed.... [sighs] Let's not do that. I haven't seen any evidence that it's a deterrent, and there are more effective... In my state...

    TOBY
    Oh, my God.

    BARTLET
    What?

    TOBY
    [to Leo] You weren't kidding.
    [to Bartlet] What's the matter with you? When I left you... I just mentioned your daughter being murdered, and you're giving us an answer that's not only soporific, it's barely human! Yes, you'd want to see him put to death. You'd want it to be cruel and unusual, which is why it's probably a good idea that fathers of murder victims don't have legal rights in these situations.

    (Bartlett was trying to win a bet with his staff that he could get Toby completely flustered.)

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday March 14 2017, @02:48PM (1 child)

    by tangomargarine (667) on Tuesday March 14 2017, @02:48PM (#478926)

    Making it part of a joke (bet) kind of ruins the entire impact of that story.

    --
    "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 14 2017, @07:08PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 14 2017, @07:08PM (#479073)

      That's one opinion.

      Many recognize the link to Dukakis and how the Democrats (and the other big party, for that matter) manage to find candidates who can only recite a set of memorized positions and who are unable to think on their feet and, more importantly, as noted by Toby's "it's barely human!" remark, are unable to demonstrate a normal reaction of a homo sapiens sapiens to a situation.

      On a related note, some on the 'Net have noted the parallels between the Orange Clown (whose maturation stalled at age 13 when he was sent to a military school where he was emotionally abused) and the sociopath presidential candidate [google.com] in Stephen King's "The Dead Zone" (who, as in the case of Jed Bartlett, was also played by Martin Sheen).

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]