Mysterious Killer Pneumonia

[LadyLaw]

Originally posted by originalheather@Mar 30 2003, 11:11 PM
Here in Mexico, they'd have better taken out the wrong kidney before you think about suing. I actually think it's better for everyone that way. I have a real problem with someone who gets a few million dollars because their doctor failed to diagnose that hangnail or they put hot coffee between their legs in a car.

Just to set the record straight on the McDonald's coffee case, which pops up everywhere as proof of the frivolous nature of the American legal system:

At trial, the jury discovered that McDonald's knew they were serving their coffee hot enough to cause THIRD degree burns, were serving the scalding hot coffee in shitty little McDonald's cups, and that over 700 people had already reported serious burns in the ten years prior, and they still REFUSED to take action, because:

1. They could use substandard cheap coffee, and less of it, because it was served too hot for anyone to tell what kind of coffee they were serving, saving them lots of money per year;
2. The super-heated coffee took so long to cool that by the time it cooled enough to drink the average consumer who was eating at a McDonald's facility had already eaten his/her fast meal and was unlikely to stick around (taking up valuable seat space) to ask for a refill, saving McDonald's money as well.

Stella Liebeck, the 79 year old woman involved, didn't just suffer little burns, she was hospitalized for a week, dropped from 113 pounds to 83 pounds, and later had to have skin grafts due to extensive third degree burns. She was not driving at the time: the car she was a passenger in was stopped.

She offered to settle for medical costs alone, plus $2000 for her daughter's time to take care of her for three weeks after she got out of the hospital, but McDonald's only offered $800.

And.....the $2.7 million award was reduced a month later to $640K....which the Judge said was "appropriate to punish and deter" McDonald''s corporate coffee policy. A McDonald''s Quality Control manager testified that McDonald''s knew of the risk of dangerously hot coffee and had no plans to either turn down the heat or warn their customers, even though most customers wouldn't be aware of the scalding danger.

I totally agree there are frivolous lawsuits out there, but the McDonald's case is not one of them, in my humble opinion.