The widower of factory worker who was killed by a rogue robot is suing the manufacturers over her death.

Grandmother Wanda Holbrook, 57, from Grand Rapids in Michigan, was crushed to death in July 2015 when she became trapped by a piece of machinery that should not have entered into the area in which she was working.

Now, William Holbrook has filed a wrongful death complaint against five robotic firms responsible for installing and testing the machinery that killed his wife.

He claims all five companies - Lincoln Electric, Flex-N-Gate, Prodomax, FANUC and Nachi - played a roll in his wife's death.

Mr Holbrook argues the accident occurred due to negligence by those who designed, built, tested and monitored the robots.

Having spent nearly two years chasing answers, he wants to ensure nobody else has to go through the torture he and his family have endured.

'I want to make sure nothing like this happens to another family,' he told the Free Press. 'We would feel terrible if we didn't do anything and then another family had to go through something similar to this. If it's an accident, it's an accident. If it's preventable, I want it to be prevented.'

The incident happened at Ventra Ionia Main - a factory in Michigan manufacturing car parts. Wanda was working on the production line when a robotic arm took her by surprise by entering the sectioned in which she was stationed. The arm hit and crushed her head against a hitch assembly it was working on, the lawsuit states. It also stated a failure of one or more of the safety systems or devices had caused Wanda's death.

She had worked at the plant for 12 years, and her husband said she loved her job and told the Free Press she felt God meant for her to work at the factory.

The family is being represented by Matthew Wikander, an attorney from Grand Rapids.He said the company has not allowed him access to Wanda's place of work and that the Holbrooks have been denied benefits while a compensation claim is in dispute.

Wikander told the Free Press: 'There may be other players involved. I think there's a lot more to this story. We don't believe Wanda did anything wrong. Wanda was a very experienced professional. 'It's a catastrophic loss for the family.'

 

I for one welcome our new robot overlords!

 

Suing is a "contact sport" in the USA but this one is justified.