A civil jury has awarded $1 million to a Long Beach, Calif., man who lost two fingers in a workplace accident five years ago, reports the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

The 22-year-old man won his lawsuit against his former employer, D&G Manufacturing Co. in the San Pedro Superior Court.

The victim had been on the job for about a month when he was instructed to work on a metal cutting machine, which was activated by a hydraulic foot pedal, according to the report.

According to his lawsuit, however, he was not informed that the machine's safety guards had been removed. The safety guards, attorneys said, were designed to keep fingers away from the machine's blades.

Two of his fingers were crushed and severed when the foot pedal was inadvertently activated, said one of his attorneys.

"The jury determined that the employer acted with a conscious disregard for worker safety by removing the safety guard," the attorney said in a written statement.