It’s the case that many believe responsible for the comprehensive tort reform that significantly reduced the ability of victims to seek justice through civil courts.
Further, it helped push a false narrative about frivolous lawsuits in America. It’s the case that gave rise to attacks on personal injury attorneys. It started with a morning cup of coffee and ended with a powerful corporation controlling the narrative. Lawsuits are frivolous until it’s your own.What’s so controversial about the Liebeck punitive damages?.McDonald’s Hot Coffee and the discovery of the 700 Complaints.What was the science Morgan presented to the jury?.McDonald’s Hot Coffee Lawsuit: The Facts.If you’ve been injured, whether by the wrongdoing of an individual or the wrongdoing of a major corporation such as McDonald’s, please let us know. Would you be so hostile about the situation if it happened to be your family member who was mutilated by such unreasonably hot coffee contained in such a flimsy paper cup? In addition to urging you to use caution when consuming hot beverages, we also urge you to use caution when criticizing or scoffing at personal injury cases such as Ms. Unfortunately, many coffee chains continue to brew and serve coffee at temperatures equal to or higher than the temperature of the cup of coffee that burned Ms. Liebeck, who fell victim to their negligent business practices. That piping hot 49-cent cup of coffee didn’t have to cost McDonald’s nearly $3 million, but that’s how much they ended up paying-out because of their deplorable treatment of Ms. The truth is, most of the people who find the jury award absurd have never seen the photos of Ms. Liebeck $2.9 million dollars, an amount often touted as evidence for the decay of the legal system an amount often propagandized by tort reform activists who claim Liebeck was one of many who try to get rich by using the justice system. Liebeck, Liebeck sued McDonald’s Restaurants in anything but a frivolous lawsuit.Įventually, a jury awarded Ms. Because of their refusal to “properly” compensate Ms. Despite receiving nearly a thousand complaints about the temperature of their coffee prior to the Liebeck incident, McDonald’s refused to own-up to what had happened. Liebeck sustained.)įaced with unbearable pain, burdensome medical expenses and lost wages (in addition to immeasurable pain and suffering), Liebeck sought to settle with McDonald’s for just $20,000, chump change in comparison to her true losses. (We’ve spared you the gruesome photos here, but a simple Google Images search for “Stella Liebeck burns” will give you photographic evidence of the graphic, horrifying injuries Ms.
#Stella liebeck skin
She spent eight straight days in the hospital, undergoing skin grafting, and then needed further medical care for the following two years. Liebeck suffered third-degree burns to her thighs, buttocks and groin area. The cotton sweatpants absorbed the blistering liquid and kept it pressed up against the skin, much the way that a wet towel clings to the body around which it is draped. However, when she went to remove the lid from the top of the coffee, the cup fell backward, cascading 8 ounces of piping hot coffee onto her inner-thighs and groin area, scorching right through her sweatpants and mutilating her skin. Liebeck did what we’ve all done countless times – she held the cup of coffee between her knees. Given that her nephew’s car, a Ford Probe, had no flat surfaces (or cup-holders!) on or in which to place her coffee while she rummaged through the bag for cream and sugar, Ms.
Liebeck was in the passenger’s seat of a car, assembling her morning coffee, having just gone through the drive-thru of McDonald’s with her nephew. But it’s also one of the most misunderstood.īack in February of 1992, 79-year-old Ms. McDonald’s Restaurants is one of the most polarizing lawsuits of all time, defining the divide between plaintiff’s attorneys and tort reform activists.
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