Simmons v. Monarch MacHine Tool Co.

On March 30, 1983, the plaintiff, William Simmons, a machine operator employed by the Raytheon Company, was injured when a tool known as a “tap” ejected from a tool assembly (toolholder) and penetrated his left eye. The circumstances of the accident were as follows. Simmons had been operating a vertical milling machine known as a VMC 150 when he noticed that the cutting tool (tap) in the machine’s toolholder had become dull and needed replacement. Simmons removed the toolholder from the VMC 150 and, with the intention of changing the tap, secured the tool-holder in a bench vise designed for…