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bouteillebleuIf you ever have anyone you know bring up "that case where that woman sued McDonalds for selling her coffee that she spilled on herself" as an example of either (a) Health and safety GONE MAD or (b) people being stupid...
...ask them to READ THE DETAILS OF THE CASE before they mouth off about it. They will be enlightened!
Very brief summary of things to note:
* The coffee was at about 85 degrees C; at this temperature a spill will give third degree burns within a few seconds. Home brewed coffee is usually served at about 60-70.
* Stella Liebeck, the defendant, initially asked for $20,000 to cover her medical costs, which were $10,000; McDonalds would offer only $800.
* The jury found McDonalds 80% responsible for the incident and Liebeck, the defendant, 20% responsible.
* That "2.7 million" number you've heard quoted? That was what the jury initially awarded as punitive damages - two days' coffee revenue for McDonalds. The judge lowered it to $480,000, in addition to $160,000 compensatory damages, for a total of $640,000. However, McDonalds and Liebeck eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount that was less than this.
The case filings can also be found on the New Mexico Courts case lookup - if that link fails with a "Stale Session" error, then go to "Case Number Search" and enter the case number, which is D-202-CV-9302419.
(This post brought to you by someone at work talking about this in a way that seemed to indicate they'd not read about it, only heard anecdotes. Oh, here are some court cases that are in fact entirely spurious, should you ever need to debunk those.)
[Edited 12/02/2009 to add another link to a summary of the case.]
...ask them to READ THE DETAILS OF THE CASE before they mouth off about it. They will be enlightened!
Very brief summary of things to note:
* The coffee was at about 85 degrees C; at this temperature a spill will give third degree burns within a few seconds. Home brewed coffee is usually served at about 60-70.
* Stella Liebeck, the defendant, initially asked for $20,000 to cover her medical costs, which were $10,000; McDonalds would offer only $800.
* The jury found McDonalds 80% responsible for the incident and Liebeck, the defendant, 20% responsible.
* That "2.7 million" number you've heard quoted? That was what the jury initially awarded as punitive damages - two days' coffee revenue for McDonalds. The judge lowered it to $480,000, in addition to $160,000 compensatory damages, for a total of $640,000. However, McDonalds and Liebeck eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount that was less than this.
The case filings can also be found on the New Mexico Courts case lookup - if that link fails with a "Stale Session" error, then go to "Case Number Search" and enter the case number, which is D-202-CV-9302419.
(This post brought to you by someone at work talking about this in a way that seemed to indicate they'd not read about it, only heard anecdotes. Oh, here are some court cases that are in fact entirely spurious, should you ever need to debunk those.)
[Edited 12/02/2009 to add another link to a summary of the case.]
