The family of a teenager killed in an industrial accident has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the teen's employer, Pallet Express.

Nevy Castaneda, 17, was killed a year ago today when he became entangled in a grinder used to mulch damaged pallets.

The suit alleges that owners or managers removed the grinder's safety guard because the guard was causing the machine to jam and reduce productivity. Pallet Express was cited by the N.C. Department of Labor in May 2007 - five months before Nevy Castaneda's death - for having removed guarding from the grinder, according to the suit.

According to the complaint filed Sept. 30, the company and two unnamed supervisors are responsible for Nevy Castaneda's death by making him perform work that the defendant should have known was certain to cause serious injury or death.

Pallet Express, off U.S. 29 north of Greensboro at 2821 Assembly Road, builds and sells wooden pallets.

It also grinds pallets to make mulch, according to its Web site.

The N.C. Department of Labor investigated the company after Castaneda's death and later fined the company for eight violations, including leaving unguarded a 14-foot wide area around the pallet shredder, failing to train employees about the safe use of some machinery, and pallets stacked too high for safety. The company paid $12,000 in fines as a result of the investigation.

Castaneda's brother, Luis Castaneda Valenzuela, the only member of the native Guatemalan's family to live in the United States, brought the suit in Guilford Superior Court as Nevy Castaneda's representative.

The suit asks for at least $10,000 in compensation for the death.

Attempts to contact the company's lawyers were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com