Three Million Buck for a Hot Cup of Coffee
I was having lunch with a long time friend of mine the other day. Somehow, the subject of alleged "lawsuit abuse" came up. (I'm a lawyer, I get that a lot!) My friend brought up the now infamous "hot coffee" lawsuit to back his argument. Man, it really burns me up when people do that! (Pun intended.)
Just to clear up a few things, let me tell y'all the real story behind this supposed "travesty of justice." In 1992, Stella Liebeck, 79 years old, purchased a cup of coffee from a McDonalds drive through (she was in the passenger seat). She tried to carefully open the top to add cream and sugar, and when she did, some extremely hot coffee spilled on her lap causing her to sustain third-degree burns (the most serious type) around her groin, inner thighs and buttocks. How hot was the coffee? Approximately 180 to 190 degrees.
Well, as it turned out, McDonald's own scientists testified at the trial that any coffee hotter than 130 degrees could produce third degree burns. The law firm defending McDonalds hired a law student to go test coffee temperatures at other restaurants in the area to prove that everyone else was serving coffee at the same temperature. The closest temperature they could find was at least 20 to 30 degrees cooler. Why serve their coffee so hot? There could be several possible reasons, including the fact that coffee puts off more vapor at higher temperatures giving the beverage a richer aroma.
Well, okay, so McDonalds was serving the coffee too hot. What's the big deal? They couldn't have known that Ms. Liebeck was going to get burned by it, right? Well… As it turns out, McDonalds had received at least 700 complaints about scalding burns from coffee in the ten years prior to the incident. Some of these complaints hd involved extremely serious injuries.
Because of her injuries, Ms. Liebeck spent eight days in the hospital. During this time, she underwent several medical procedures including debridement and skin grafting. The burns left her permanently scarred and disabled for more than two years.
Ms. Liebeck and her attorneys tried in good faith to settle this matter before the case went to trial. McDonalds' response? An $800 settlement offer.
At trial, the jury awarded $160,000 in compensatory damages and 2.7 million in punitive damages. Yes, a lot of money, but at the time that award represented a mere two days worth of McDonalds' coffee sales. The punitive damage award was later reduced by the judge to $480,000. (Judges can do that. Its another one of the checks and balances in our legal system.)
So now that you know "the rest of the story," the next time someone tries to persuade you that there is a "lawsuit crisis" in this country and that "tort reform" is needed, why not share with them the real story behind the three million dollar hot cup of coffee.
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Stewart concentrates in cases related to:
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