The brouhaha over the lawsuit against McDonald's for serving overly hot coffee has another side. The incident is often used in discussing frivolous lawsuits. But--was it frivolous?
In 1992 at a McDonald's in Albuquerque, Stella Liebeck, age 79, spilled hot coffee into her lap. She had 3rd degree burns (the worst) on 6% of her body and lesser burns on 16%. Nearly a quarter of her body was burned. Liebeck was hospitalized for eight days while skin graft surgery was performed. Then she endured two years follow-up treatment.
McDonald's had received more that 700 recorded complaints that its coffee was too hot and had even been sued over it a few times. McDonald's was serving coffee at 180* to 190*. At 180* liquid can cause third-degree burns in two seconds. The attorney argued that coffee should be served at no more than 140* and backed up his argument with evidence proving that other fast food chains served coffee at 140*.
Liebeck did not sue for millions as many think. She asked for $20,000 to cover her hospital bills. McDonald's offered $800! She hired a lawyer who sued for $90,000. Again McDonald's refused to settle with the thought that the other lawsuits had failed as frivolous. On and on things went. Then three years later, she was awarded $600,000. McDonald's could have saved $580,000 if it had given the woman what she asked for and deserved.
Did she deserve to win the case?
(The full story is in The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.)
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Comments: 25
I've put coffee between my legs because the car I was in didn't have coffee holders for passengers. Remember, this was 1992, not 2002(where now we have coffee holders all over the place, whether we need them or not).
If she had known that she was holding something hot at as burning coal almost, she might have acted more prudently. Who gets seriously burned by coffee!
It was cheaper for MickeyD's just to pay the fine than to replace the coffee maker. Sounds like depraved indifference to me....
McD's should have been required to pay the hospital bills, even if the woman had Medicare. They should have been required to cover her legal costs.
Anything above that would depend on the judge's opinion. Did the woman lose income because of the accident or the court appearances? Then she should be compensated. It's difficult to say how much a person should get for "pain" because everyone hurts a million dollars worth.
Just my cents.