Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I watched the HBO "Hot Coffee" documentary several days ago. Part of the documentary was about Stella Liebeck, the woman in Albuquerque who bought coffee at the McD's drive-thru on San Mateo/Gibson, got burned by the coffee and sued. Years ago when this story came out, I was thinking, "How ridiculous!" But after watching the documentary, I can see why the woman sued. There were details I never knew about that shed new light on her story.
The documentary also highlights 3 other people with moving stories and how the forces working for Tort Reform used McDonald's case as a sword to sway public opinion.
While the documentary is one-sided, it was a great eye-opener and is a must see. I believe it's going to air again on HBO on July 10th. There's footage from around the city including the McDonald's (where I used to work, BTW) and around old town & maybe the UNM area.
I watched the HBO "Hot Coffee" documentary several days ago. Part of the documentary was about Stella Liebeck, the woman in Albuquerque who bought coffee at the McD's drive-thru on San Mateo/Gibson, got burned by the coffee and sued. Years ago when this story came out, I was thinking, "How ridiculous!" But after watching the documentary, I can see why the woman sued. There were details I never knew about that shed new light on her story.
Maybe I should watch it because I can't think of anything that would make her not use common sense in determining that coffee is hot, and that spilling it on yourself will cause a burn.
Maybe I should watch it because I can't think of anything that would make her not use common sense in determining that coffee is hot, and that spilling it on yourself will cause a burn.
Then watch it. Her burns were horrific and the coffee was much hotter than it should have been. Also, McDonald's had hundreds of other people file complaints about burning their skin and mouths on the coffee but chose to do nothing about it. Stella only asked McDonald's to pay her medical bills, but they refused, so she sued to get reimbursement. The jury ended up giving the huge punitive damages to teach McDonald's a lesson (which was later reduced). The punitive damages equaled two days of coffee sales for all McDonald's.
The documentary is mostly about tort reform and how this case was used as an example of a "frivolous lawsuit" when it really wasn't that at all.
From past discussions, from what I remember from memory, the facts were, that it was not a frivolous lawsuit, the woman just wanted McDonald's to pay the medical bills, they refused. McDonald's had been cited previously by city food inspectors for maintaining the coffee at a dangerous level, enough to be a safety issue
Then watch it. Her burns were horrific and the coffee was much hotter than it should have been. Also, McDonald's had hundreds of other people file complaints about burning their skin and mouths on the coffee but chose to do nothing about it. Stella only asked McDonald's to pay her medical bills, but they refused, so she sued to get reimbursement. The jury ended up giving the huge punitive damages to teach McDonald's a lesson (which was later reduced). The punitive damages equaled two days of coffee sales for all McDonald's.
The documentary is mostly about tort reform and how this case was used as an example of a "frivolous lawsuit" when it really wasn't that at all.
I may watch this movie in the future. I am not trying to say that her burns were not bad, but I do think that the whole situation could have been avoided by her taking different actions also. Yes, the coffee was extremely hot and yes others had been complaining about the coffee previously, but there was no reason to not just let the coffee cool. One of the facts in the case was that the woman burned had placed the hot cup of coffee between her legs to try and take the lid off so that she could add cream and sugar to the coffee. Personally, I find putting a hot liquid near my groin and fiddling around with the lid a bad idea that just asks for disaster. There also didn't seem to be a reason for her to add her cream and sugar immediately, she simply could have either waited for the coffee to cool to a more normal temperature, or she could have waited until she could use a stable surface in order to add her stuff to the coffee. I have been served extremely hot coffee before, and I have always waited for it to cool before I did anything that could cause it to spill, or waited to drink it so that I did not burn myself. I really think that it is not too much to ask for someone to make the same basic measures with their own coffee, but apparently common sense just isn't that common. (And yes, I believe that common sense would make someone at McDonalds to think that 190 degrees might not be the best temperature to keep coffee at.)
OK, so now, what is normal? What does the law say? Etc...
Rich
"3rd degree injuries occur in about 1 second at 160F, 5 seconds at 140F, 9 minutes at 120"
Domestic Hot Water Scald Burn Lawsuits: Time-Temperature Relations (http://www.tap-water-burn.com/pamphlet/time.htm - broken link)
Despite the look of this website, the numbers I have found so far agree with the times given as far as when 3rd degree burns occur.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
thinking, "How ridiculous!" But after watching the documentary, I can see why the woman sued. There were details I never knew about that shed new light on her story. 
