According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in federal court by a husband, a malfunctioning robot crushed his wife’s head as she adjusted machinery at her job.

Wanda Holbrook was a maintenance technician for Ventra Ionia in Michigan. The company does work related to trailer hitches, Wanda was inspecting machinery on 7th July 2015, when a robot from another section “took Wanda by surprise,” per William Holbrook’s suit.

The robot entered Wanda’s section, where the hitch components were assembled, then it hit and crushed the Wanda’s head between a hitch assembly, which it was attempting to place in the fixture of section 140, and a hitch assembly that was already in the fixture.

The robot should not have gone into that section, and should not have tried to place a hitch assembly in a fixture, which had already one, loaded. The lawsuit has been filed against various companies involved in the production, installation, and servicing of the robot.

"A failure of one or more of the defendants’ safety systems or devices had taken place, causing Wanda’s death," the lawsuit states. It also says the automated safety system did not work as it should have; safety doors meant to stop robot movement, for example, failed, the lawsuit claims.

Prior to dying, “Wanda suffered tremendous fright, shock and conscious pain and suffering,” the lawsuits said.

Washington against the revised immigration ban

AMandeep