Edgardo Toucet Suing Temp Agency After Having Genitals Severed At Work

A Puerto Rican immigrant who was hired at an Orlando area factory is suing the temporary employment agency through which he found the job. Edgardo Toucet is suing Spartan Staffing and their compliance officer Barbara Pridgen over an incident in which the man's genitalia were severed by a slicing machine.

Toucet alleges that he "received no formalized instruction or training" before being hired by the Future Foam plant. He is suing Pridgen and her organization for gross negligence among other charges in the January 2010 incident. Toucet was operating a two-man machine used to slice carpet foam when the waist-high blade connected with the man's midsection.

According to the affidavit, the machine had no safety guard and the emergency shutoff switch was unreliable at best. Reports surfaced of prior, less serious incidents involving the same machine. The plaintiff speaks no English and is seeking $15,000 in damages. According to Courthouse News Service, he is being represented by Gene Odom and Michael Valen.