LOS ANGELES -- An employee's grisly fall into a large meat blender has prompted an investigation of a California company that makes McDonald's hamburger patties, a prosecutor said.
Golden State Food Corp. has been charged by the District Attorney's Office with a misdemeanor violation of the California Administrative Code in the June 1984 death of maintenance crew worker Samuel Vasquez.
Special Assistant District Attorney Jan Chatten-Brown Wednesday said she hopes to decide by July 18 whether Golden State was negligent and should be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Vasquez was a maintenance worker who cleaned Golden State's three meat blenders at a plant in the City of Industry. He was killed when he tried to remove a piece of stuck meat.
Investigators said Vasquez either slipped or was pulled into the blender by one of the ribbon screws used to blend the meat. The blender amputated his foot and legs, ripped his chest open, tore out his heart and caused both lungs to collapse.
