Originally posted by mee People spill their coffee, which they should know is piping hot, in their laps and they sue.
People need to stop referencing that like it was a BS case of money grubbing. It was a matter of negligence on the part of McDonalds keeping their coffee at a dangerously high temperature despite over 700 injuries reported over several years (and serving them in flimsy cups). Normal coffee serving temperatures do not cause
third degree burns requiring 8 days of hospitalization and skin grafts followed by 2 years of treatment, which is what the
79 year old plaintiff went through, and her suit was to cover her medical expenses and $5000 in lost wages for her daughter who had to take 3 weeks off of work to care for her. McDonalds offered her
$800. She retained an attorney, who upped the suit to cover his costs in researching the case, mcdonalds refused to settle and the case went to trial. The jury decided the lady was 20% at fault to McDonalds 80%, awarded her 80% of the ~$200k compensation the lawyer had requested, and then tacked on a punitive damage amount in the millions (a couple days of coffee sales for mcd), but the judge dropped that down to 3x the compensation amount, and mcdonalds got that amount reduced later.
The plaintiff died in 2004, 10 years after the incident. She ended up using the money to cover the long-term care she ended up needing from the injury and recovery process.
The McDonald's Coffee Cup Case: Separating McFacts From McFiction