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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Finance Company Spared|Damages In Accident

FRESNO, Calif. (CN) - A worker who injured his hand in a glue spreader cannot collect damages from the company that financed the machine, the California Courts of Appeal ruled.

Guillermo Arriaga's finger was caught in the spreading machine while he worked for Orepak Hardwood Products. When Orepak bought the machine, it was used and the guard had been removed from it.

CitiCapital Commercial Corp. was one of the defendants in Arriaga's lawsuit. The bank argued that as finance lessor and onetime seller of the machine, it was not liable as part of the chain of commerce.

Judge Levy agreed with the trial court that CitiCapital was not liable.

"A finance lessor does not play an integral role in the 'producing and marketing enterprise' of a product," Levy wrote, "and thus is not strictly liable under a marketing/distribution theory."

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