The N.C. Court of Appeals makes clear it takes more than negligence of the employer to meet the standard for a Woodson Claim. In Valenzuela v. Pallet Express, Inc., the Court upheld the trial court’s granting of summary judgment for the defendants, finding that the estate of a teenage boy who was killed while operating a shredder could not state a Woodson claim for negligence against his employer, even though the decedent was too young to operate the heavy machinery and a safety guard had been removed. The Court reasoned that there was no evidence that the employer knew its actions were substantially certain to cause serious injury or death.