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Macy's Pleads No Contest To Decapitation Death Of Employee

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Macy's has pleaded no contest in connection with the death of an employee in 2009, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

The case stems from the death of 68-year-old Roy Polanco on July 13, 2009. Polanco was operating a cardboard baling and compactor machine at a Macy's distribution center in East Los Angeles when he fell into an unguarded opening of the unit and was crushed to death and decapitated by the machine's hydraulic compacting ram, according to the District Attorney's office.

Balers are used to compact waste, like cardboard, for recycling, but District Attorney's officials said the machine Polanco was operating had been modified so it would operate without interruption.

Macy's Corporate Services Inc. entered the no contest plea in the misdemeanor case Monday. As part of the plea agreement, Macy's will pay a $950,000 fine and must also conduct an audit of the balers and compactors at their stores and distribution facilities in California, officials said. The audit must be approved by the District Attorney's Office.

 

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