Light Pressure Near the "Strike Zone" Shuts Down Laptop

I bought a Dell Latitude D510 a few months ago for my wife and at some point we noticed it kept shutting down on its own (not hibernation or standby, it would just instantly turn off). We soon discovered it always seemed to happen when we handed the laptop to each other. Tonight she realized it was triggered by grasping the left side of the laptop on the bottom. We then noticed the "strike zone" label there. Has anyone else experienced these shutdowns? Are they by design as part of the "strike zone" technology to protect the hard drive or do we need it serviced?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.