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Mar
The McDonalds Hot Coffee Case Didnt Change Much. The way most people understand the case is that McDonalds was the victim and Liebeck was the scheming no good person looking to.
In 1992 79-year old Stella Liebeck became the poster child for frivolous litigation after filing a lawsuit against McDonalds for serving coffee that was too hot.
Mcdonalds coffee burn case. Edwards may have been inspired by a landmark case from 1994 Liebeck v. McDonalds Restaurants in which Stella Liebeck 79 was awarded 640000 from the fast food chain after she accidentally spilled a cup of hot coffee in her lap. The scalding coffee caused third-degree burns leaving her hospitalized and forced to undergo skin grafting.
In 1992 Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque New Mexico was in the passenger seat of her grandsons car when she was severely burned by a cup of coffee purchased at a local McDonalds drivethrough window. This case received a great deal of publicity and became a prime example for frivolous lawsuits which garnered large monetary damages. A closer look at the facts of the case and.
At the surface it would seem that Ms. Liebeck caused the burns herself by spilling the coffee and the jury in the case did attribute about 20 responsibility to her for this. But the case wasnt about the spill it was about the temperature that McDonalds served their coffee.
At an astonishing 180 degrees Fahrenheit on average and sometimes up to 190 degrees the coffee was being served. The McDonalds Hot Coffee Case Didnt Change Much. McDonalds still hasnt learned its lesson.
Other people have reported similar injuries after spilling McDonalds coffee. In September 1997 a seventy-three year old woman suffered first and second degree burns when a cup of McDonalds coffee spilled on her lap. At the time McDonalds still kept its coffee at 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Famous 29 Million McDonalds Coffee Burn Case Frivolous Lawsuit. April 29 2015 Many in the press have branded this case as another frivolous lawsuit but lets take a closer look and see this through the eyes of an experienced Tri-Cities personal injury attorney and see if the plaintiff didnt have a legitimate case. In 1992 Stella Liebeck spilled extremely hot McDonalds coffee in her lap then sued the company.
Its a case practically every American citizen knows. By Allison Torres Burtka Stella Liebeck the 79-year-old woman who was severely burned by McDonalds coffee that she spilled in her lap in 1992 was unfairly held up as an example of frivolous litigation in the public eye. But the facts of the case tell a very different story.
In 1992 79-year old Stella Liebeck became the poster child for frivolous litigation after filing a lawsuit against McDonalds for serving coffee that was too hot. The public generally ridiculed. The reason they felt McDonalds needed to be punished was that the restaurants own witnesses admitted the following.
The coffee was 185 degrees which is dangerous and undrinkable. McDonalds kept the temperature that high because it stayed fresher longer. McDonalds was aware the coffee was dangerously hot but stated that the number of reported burns in relation to the total.
One of the most famous lawsuits in recent history is the case of Liebeck v. You may remember this case as the woman who spilled McDonalds coffee sued and got millions of dollars out of it. However that is the story mass media wanted you to hear.
The story of a money-seeking customer suing a big company for big bucks. In reality this couldnt be further from the truth. During discovery the exchange of documents in a legal case McDonalds produced documents showing more than 700 earlier claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992.
Some claims involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebecks. This history documented McDonalds knowledge about the extent and nature of the burn hazard of its coffee. McDonalds Hot Coffee and the discovery of the 700 Complaints.
During discovery Morgan and his team found that between 1982 and 1992 McDonalds received more than 700 reports from consumers burned by their coffee. Reports varied in burn severity but the company spent about 500000 settling burn injury claims in those ten years. The McDonalds case was filed in New Mexico thousands of miles away but was regularly affecting us in trials right here in Tampa Bartow and St.
After investigating the particulars we came to the startling reality that the insurance lobby was seriously distorting the truth. The Albuquerque Journal ran the headline McDonalds scalding. Woman burned by hot coffee gets 29 million Since most people dont read beyond the headlines they overlooked the most important facts and the myths overshadowed the authentic story.
The way most people understand the case is that McDonalds was the victim and Liebeck was the scheming no good person looking to. McDonalds own documents showed that they were aware of over 700 cases where customers were badly burned by the coffee between 1982 to 1992. But it was cheaper to do nothing.
Liebeck and her family just wanted McDonalds to cover her medical expenses in relation to this incident. They werent after some big payday. Its treated as a classic example of judicial overreach and greed.
A woman driving in her car while holding McDonalds coffee between her legs spills some of the coffee on herself.