Ex Parte Bowater, Inc.

Patrick Maze filed a complaint on March 16, 1998, in the Marshall County Circuit Court against his employer, Bowater, Inc., to recover workers' compensation benefits based on an on-the-job injury. Maze's injury occurred on February 4, 1998, when he placed his left hand into a running conveyor system to dislodge a piece of wood that had jammed the system. When he dislodged the wood, the conveyor system immediately began moving; Maze's hand was pinched between the wood and the top of the conveyor housing and was severely injured. Bowater asserted the affirmative defense of willful misconduct by…