This week the Pennsylvania Superior Court decided in favor of Kraft Foods Global Inc., saying that they could not be sued for damages by a Nabisco employee who was severely injured by cracker-cutting equipment.
According to an article on BusinessInsurance. com, the employee began working at the Philadelphia bakery in 1999 or 2000, when the plant was then owned by Nabisco Inc. Nabisco was acquired by Kraft in 2001. The employee lost his left arm and injured his right hand while operating a Ritz Cracker machine in 2007.
The employee sued Kraft for his injuries, arguing that the company has a “distinct and separate role” from Nabisco that makes it a liable third party in his case. He also claimed that Kraft was liable because it was the successor to Nabisco, which made the machine that injured him.
The Pennsylvania court disagreed, saying Kraft does not have a “dual persona” from Nabisco, and that Kraft’s liability did not change because of the Nabisco acquisition. The court said that workers’ compensation was the exclusive remedy in this case.