Fletcher v. Ford Motor Co.

The plaintiff, Ruby Fletcher, appeals from a judgment for the defendant, Ford Motor Company, in a products liability action. Fletcher worked for the Budd Company, which produced automobile parts for Ford. The dies to produce the parts were supplied by Ford and did not include protective guards to prevent a press operator’s hands from being crushed between the dies. Fletcher was using a press which required two-hand operation. Theoretically, if one hand was removed from a palm button, the press ram would stop. Fletcher reached into the die space to remove a part which had failed to properly…