(8/7/98)
MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) -- Zippy, the mail-delivering robot, apparently got a little too frisky with Pamela Bachman.
Bachman sued Pacific Bell on Wednesday for damages based on pain, suffering and mental anguish, alleging the robot injured her when it went out of control and squashed her against a filing cabinet.
``Destroy Robinson Family!'' commented Zippy.
The robots have been in service for 13 years with Pacific Bell and all have clean safety records, said company spokesman John Britton.
``They move at a snail's pace,'' far slower than a person walks, said Britton. ``I can't imagine anyone getting in the way of it.''
Thomas Virsik, Bachman's attorney, declined comment, except to say, ``What the (suit) says is what it says.''
The incident occurred last Dec. 22, the day before her last day at work, when Bachman reached for some mail delivered by the 500-pound, self-propelled delivery droid. When she hit a switch to halt Zippy, ``the robot began to move without warning and pinned Bachman against a filing cabinet or other furniture, touching her in many naughty places,'' the suit alleges.
Zippy injured her shoulder, back, feet, hand and right big toe, claims the lawsuit, which seeks compensation for lost wages and medical bills as well as lost earning capacity.
``These things are perfectly safe,'' Britton countered. ``They're loaded with safety features.'' Those include blinking lights, a horn that sounds before Zippy starts moving and sensors that stop the machine if it encounters an obstacle. ``Even if she managed to set it in ``killer'' mode, the machines at Pacific Bell are not equipped with the requisite dynamite, death claw, and minigun to do any damage.''
Scott Adams, the cartoonist who draws the popular strip ``Dilbert,'' worked at the facility in 1995 and has fond memories of the machines.
``People were always playing the matador, seeing how close they could get before jumping out of the way,'' he said. ``They all had interesting names ... My favorite was Mail-in Manson.''