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Mar 14, 2005

Rethinking Coffee Lawsuits

I've always had a negative opinion of the lady who sued McD for burning herself with their hot coffee.

After reading this to-the-point and well thought out post on Slashdot (yes, they exist,) I may have to change my views...

Re:Caveat (Score:4, Informative) by cat_jesus (525334) on Monday March 14, @04:36PM (#11936934)
The other problem with the McDonald's case is the coffee was hot enough to cause third degree burns. It is illegal to sell food in a restaurant that is inedible or dangerous. The lady in question knew she did a dumb thing but she suffered third degree burns on her inner thighs which required skin grafts. She could not afford to pay her medical bills(she was very old and on a fixed income) and asked McDonald's to pay. She was not seeking any compensation past her own medical bills. When the jury found out that McDonald's knew their coffee was too hot, knew people were getting injured and figured the number of people getting third degree burns was acceptable, they stuck it to McDonald's.

If anything, this was a case that demonstrated why we need to be able to sue the shit out of a company when it deliberately harms people.

The devil is in the details.

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