Mc Donalds coffee

Murt10

A woman was awarded $2.9 million dollars against Mc Donalds, because the coffee they served her at a drive through was too hot, and she spilled it and burnt herself.

Seems mad, but the facts (and pictures) show otherwise.


http://retroreport.org/taking-the-lid-off-the-mcdonalds-coffee-case/

My name is URL

Holy fcuk is it 1992 already?

hullaballoo

That happened 22 years ago.

whiskeyman

this isn't the History forum ya know...

Lapin

I can't believe this story is only coming to light now.

readyletsgo

I really like McDonalds coffee! Nice and strong for what it is.

Murt10

Ah Lads, lay off


Its from Retroreport


From their website

"How often does a great story dominate the headlines, only to be dropped from the news cycle? How often do journalists tell us of a looming danger or important discovery – only to move quickly to the next new thing? What really happened? How did these events change us? And what are the lingering consequences that may affect our society to this day?

These are the questions we are answering at Retro Report, an innovative documentary news organization launched in 2013 as a timely online counterweight to today’s 24/7 news cycle. Combining documentary techniques with shoe-leather reporting, we peel back the layers of some of the most perplexing news stories of our past with the goal of encouraging the public to think more critically about current events and the media."

http://retroreport.org/about/


Also if you click on the related stories at the end of the article, The NY times and various other big media companies are only covering it now.

Lucifer MorningStar

Must try this next time I'm in Mc Donalds

pajor

That case (I'm pretty sure) is why all coffee cups etc quite obviously have this:

Lyaiera

pajor wrote: »

That case (I'm pretty sure) is why all coffee cups etc quite obviously have this:

It's not.

UserNo1

Murt10 wrote: »

A woman was awarded $2.9 million dollars against Mc Donalds, because the coffee they served her at a drive through was too hot, and she spilled it and burnt herself.

Seems mad, but the facts (and pictures) show otherwise.

Poor Article dose not tell the real story

dmc17

readyletsgo wrote: »

I really like McDonalds coffee! Nice and strong for what it is.

And extremely hot!

LizzieJones

Murt10 wrote: »

A woman was awarded $2.9 million dollars against Mc Donalds, because the coffee they served her at a drive through was too hot, and she spilled it and burnt herself.

Seems mad, but the facts (and pictures) show otherwise.


http://retroreport.org/taking-the-lid-off-the-mcdonalds-coffee-case/

The story seems to forget to mention that when she burnt herself she had put the coffee between her legs and then removed the lid. Duh.

BearBanjer

Anyone hear about that war that happened a while ago? Some evil fella with a moustache was invading countries like it was going out of fashion and killing Jews...I think it was called, the war of the world part 2 or something....

LizzieJones

Strawberry Persuasion wrote: »

Anyone hear about that war that happened a while ago? Some evil fella with a moustache was invading countries like it was going out of fashion and killing Jews...I think it was called, the war of the world part 2 or something....

jpegs or it never happened.

Lapin

Murt10 wrote: »

Ah Lads, lay off


Its from Retroreport..........

So what is it you're trying to teach us OP?

That McDonald's case in 1992 is widely acknowledged as the point where companies were compelled to protect people from their own stupidity.



It gave rise to notices like 'the contents of this coffee cup may be hot' on coffee cups FFS.

This product 'may contain nuts' on packets of nuts.

'These images may contain flash photography' before nearly every TV news report.


It gave rise to the 'Disclaimer' concept in health and safety legislation and paved the way for state sponsored scams like the Safe Pass course and NCT tests.

If you screw up, you can no longer say you weren't warned.

Legs.Eleven

Lol

Menas

And in other breaking news Gaul has fallen to the Holy Roman Empire.

blueser

Strawberry Persuasion wrote: »

Anyone hear about that war that happened a while ago? Some evil fella with a moustache was invading countries like it was going out of fashion and killing Jews...I think it was called, the war of the world part 2 or something....

Give over; next thing, you'll be telling us that a man walked on the moon.

WoollyRedHat

blueser wrote: »

Give over; next thing, you'll be telling us that a man walked on the moon.

bumper234

Some young lad named Elvis seems to be doing well in the popular music charts.

Tar.Aldarion

LizzieJones wrote: »

The story seems to forget to mention that when she burnt herself she had put the coffee between her legs and then removed the lid. Duh.

Doesn't matter, the coffee should never have been as hot as it was, the burns were unreal.


OP the actual figure was far less than 2.9 million, it was lowered.

Jesus Wept

bumper234 wrote: »

Some young lad named Elvis seems to be doing well in the popular music charts.

His energetic hip gyrating is against God's will

Cuddlesworth

Lapin wrote: »

So what is it you're trying to teach us OP?

That McDonald's case in 1992 is widely acknowledged as the point where companies were compelled to protect people from their own stupidity.

Did you ever read the facts of the case and the reasons she won? If you did, you would find that the case "that was widely acknowledged as the point where companies were compelled to protect people from their own stupidity", was in fact a legitimate claim after some serious stupidity on the part of the franchise owner.

Tail Docker

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Doesn't matter, the coffee should never have been as hot as it was, the burns were unreal. They weren't allowed have it so hot.

Hotter even than boiling? Blimey - a cup of steam, no wonder she sued.

Tar.Aldarion

Tail Docker wrote: »

Hotter even than boiling? Blimey - a cup of steam, no wonder she sued.

Hot enough that initial medical fees were 20000 and the court gave her 160000 to cover medical fees alone.
If a drink is so hot that you have to be in hospital 8 days getting skin grafts (with further 2 years of treatment) then it shouldn't be that hot and was not a frivolous case.

Cuddlesworth

For anybody who is interested.

Was Stella seriously injured?

Fiction: Stella only suffered minor injuries.

Truth: Stella suffered 3rd degree burns over 16% of her body. The burns were to her inner thighs, buttocks, perineum, and genital and groin area. The burns went as deep as her bone. She was wearing sweatpants which were literally burned into her skin.


Did Stella require hospitalization?

Fiction: Stella didn’t require hospitalization.

Truth: Stella was in the hospital for 8 days and underwent multiple debridement and skin-grafting surgeries.


Did Stella ever try to settle this for a lesser sum of money?

Fiction: Stella never tried to settle the case.

Truth: There was an early attempt to settle for the medical bills of approximately $11,000. Later Ms. Liebeck offered to settle for $90,000. McDonald’s generously offered $800.

In 1993 Stella filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s alleging that the coffee was exceptionally hot and that she wasn’t warned about the extreme temperature. During the trial it came out that McDonald’s was aware of over 700 similar claims and had paid out over $500,000 to settle other burn claims. There was testimony that with this knowledge McDonald’s could have easily solved the problem by turning down the temperature. Yet they refused! McDonald’s seemingly took the attitude that the profits from serving “hot” coffee outweighed the claims they may have to pay.


Was the coffee too hot?+

Myth: The coffee was not too hot

Truth: Testimony showed that the coffee was heated to 180 to 190. At 180 degrees, liquids can cause burns to human skin in 2 to 7 seconds. Coffee served at home is generally 135 degrees. Many commercial establishements serve coffee in the range of 130 degrees to 140 degrees. A burn risk exists with any coffee over 140 degrees.


Myth: McDonalds was not on notice that there coffee was causing burns

Truth: There was 700 other coffee burn cases that McDonald’s was aware of.


Myth: Stella received $2,700,000 in compensatory damages.

Truth: Actually Stella was only awarded $200,000 which was later reduced by the Judge to $160,000. The trial Judge reduced the $2,700,000 punitive damages to $480,000. Punitive damages were put in place to punish corporations for bad acts. Consequently the bulk of any punitive damage award in the State of New Mexico goes to the State of New Mexico.

gctest50

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Doesn't matter, the coffee should never have been as hot as it was, the burns were unreal.
..........

It should be if you wanted the most out of it and you wanted it to stay hot

Its a bit like complaining cherry-pickers are excessively heavy after you drove your cherry-picker over your own foot with the remote control

Lapin

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Did you ever read the facts of the case and the reasons she won? If you did, you would find that the case "that was widely acknowledged as the point where companies were compelled to protect people from their own stupidity", was in fact a legitimate claim after some serious stupidity on the part of the franchise owner.

I have and I don't dispute the facts.

I stand by what I said however. This case, rightly or wrongly is widly acknowledged as the turning point in disclaimer issues as a counter claim to protect companies from those who can't take responsibility for their own actions.

I don't dispute that McDonalds were at fault in this instance, but the publicity and misleading information surrounding the case has led to the over cautious ass covering accociated with almost every aspect of health & safety policy today.

The Backwards Man

Anybody hear about the buck that bought a new Winnebago and put it on cruise control while he went in the back for coffee?

Cuddlesworth

Lapin wrote: »

I have and I don't dispute the facts.

I stand by what I said however. This case, rightly or wrongly is widly acknowledged as the turning point in disclaimer issues as a counter claim to protect companies from those who can't take responsibility for their own actions.

I don't dispute that McDonalds were at fault in this instance, but the publicity and misleading information surrounding the case has led to the over cautious ass covering accociated with almost every aspect of health & safety policy today.

There is a good Ted talk on that subject. It essentially boils down to the perception of frivolous court cases and the reality. In case such as this, the judgement was very justified but was presented as stupid. In other cases of crazy judgments that were not actually justified, they were squashed on appeal when presented to a better judge.

Ann22

I like McDonald's coffee....and I also poured a cup of it all over myself one time..it was unbearably painful and I was shaking with the shock of it. My trousers were saturated and stuck to me. The girl was very nice..asked was I ok..to which I with much embarrassment.. replied 'yeah I'm grand. .my fault' she promptly appeared with another fresh cup and I had to sit and grit my teeth with my legs trembling and drink it then walk home in the freezing cold with sore legs and wet jeans welded to me. Was a bit raw and red but was ok. Even if it wasn't I wouldn't like to sue when I did it to myself.

Ann22

Ann22 wrote: »

I like McDonald's coffee....and I also poured a cup of it all over myself one time..it was unbearably painful and I was shaking with the shock of it. My trousers were saturated and stuck to me. The girl was very nice..asked was I ok..to which I with much embarrassment.. replied 'yeah I'm grand. .my fault' she promptly appeared with another fresh cup and I had to sit and grit my teeth with my legs trembling and drink it then walk home in the freezing cold with sore legs and wet jeans welded to me. Was a bit raw and red but was ok. Even if it wasn't I wouldn't like to sue when I did it to myself.

The lady in this case didn't want to sue in the first place either, iirc

whirlpool

UserNo1 wrote: »

Poor Article dose not tell the real story

LizzieJones wrote: »

The story seems to forget to mention that when she burnt herself she had put the coffee between her legs and then removed the lid. Duh.

I take it neither of you watched the video report, and instead just read the "article" below it, which was not really an article but a description of the contents of the video report. The video report went into full detail and did mention that she burned herself when she put the coffee between her legs and removed the lid.

whirlpool

On a another note, I thought this thread was going to be about how nice McDonald's coffee is, and I opened the thread to agree and say that I too really enjoy McDonalds coffee. I shall just wait for somebody to make that thread.

Sarah Bear

Hey! you guys broke my sarcasm detector

Lando Griffin

She should have got a McFlurry.

Sulla Felix

whirlpool wrote: »

I take it neither of you watched the video report, and instead just read the "article" below it, which was not really an article but a description of the contents of the video report. The video report went into full detail and did mention that she burned herself when she put the coffee between her legs and removed the lid.

Yes, and if the water hadn't been above the boiling point, that act wouldn't have left her in hospital.

It boggles my mind that some people defend the idea of serving coffee so hot that it would literally damage your mouth if you drank it.

MS.ing

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Anybody hear about the buck that bought a new Winnebago and put it on cruise control while he went in the back for coffee?

deery me

Shakespeare's Sister

The story got *reported* as her being an irresponsible and then grossly self entitled dope, but the coffee was at too high a temperature (ok she spilled it on herself but it was a temperature of 180-190 degrees rather than the standard 130-140 degrees for coffee).
She didn't want to sue but clocked up high medical bills, and the damages awarded ended up being far, far less than was reported.

radharc

Sulla Felix wrote: »

Yes, and if the water hadn't been above the boiling point, that act wouldn't have left her in hospital.

It boggles my mind that some people defend the idea of serving coffee so hot that it would literally damage your mouth if you drank it.

Above what boiling point?

What about tea, it is served at a far higher temperature than the coffee served in this case. Should all restaurants be banned from serving tea?

Magaggie wrote: »

The story got *reported* as her being an irresponsible and then grossly self entitled dope, but the coffee was at too high a temperature (ok she spilled it on herself but it was a temperature of 180-190 degrees rather than the standard 130-140 degrees for coffee).
She didn't want to sue but clocked up high medical bills, and the damages awarded ended up being far, far less than was reported.

Where is it standard to serve coffee at 130 degrees? Starbucks still serve their coffees in excess of 180 degrees, as do McDonalds.

Call Me Jimmy

Isn't it amazing that we humans can drink such hot things?!

percy212

If you think the woman was over reacting check.out the photo here: http://x4mr.blogspot.ie/2012/07/hot-coffee.html

Corporations do a very good job of making people look bad.

gctest50

Sulla Felix wrote: »

Yes, and if the water hadn't been above the boiling point, that act wouldn't have left her in hospital.

wtf ?

the coffee was at say 190F , water boils at 212F ( unless you're on a mountain or smth)


.

biko

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Doesn't matter, the coffee should never have been as hot as it was, the burns were unreal.

Indeed, the whole point of the case was that McD was serving coffee at too high temperature (unfortunately this part is never retold).

MagicMarker

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Hot enough that initial medical fees were 20000 and the court gave her 160000 to cover medical fees alone.
If a drink is so hot that you have to be in hospital 8 days getting skin grafts (with further 2 years of treatment) then it shouldn't be that hot and was not a frivolous case.

This is America we're talking about, it costs 20k just to get an x-ray.

I mean, too hot? Really? I boil a kettle every time I make a cup of tea, no doubt if I poured a cup of boiling hot water all over myself I would do some pretty serious damage.

When I buy a coffee, it burns my hand if I don't use one of those cardboard holder things. Ya know why? Because coffee is fúcking hot.

whirlpool

Sulla Felix wrote: »

Yes, and if the water hadn't been above the boiling point, that act wouldn't have left her in hospital.

It boggles my mind that some people defend the idea of serving coffee so hot that it would literally damage your mouth if you drank it.

You are commenting on the story, I was commenting on the contents of the webpage. I don't see how your post is a response to my post.

whirlpool

MagicMarker wrote: »

This is America we're talking about, it costs 20k just to get an x-ray.

I mean, too hot? Really? I boil a kettle every time I make a cup of tea, no doubt if I poured a cup of boiling hot water all over myself I would do some pretty serious damage.

When I buy a coffee, it burns my hand if I don't use one of those cardboard holder things. Ya know why? Because coffee is fúcking hot.

But if you accidentally spilled some on yourself, you wouldn't suffer third degree burns to 16% of your body and be subjected tens of thousands of euro of hospital bills. Plenty of us have spilled coffee and tea on ourselves and we've not suffered the way this woman did. She shouldn't have suffered as much as she did simply because she spilled some hot coffee on herself, and her point was that McDonalds were at fault.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Trigger Happy wrote: »

And in other breaking news Gaul has fallen to the Holy Roman Empire.

Rome Total War thought me more about history in a few months than any teacher ever did.

srsly78

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Rome Total War thought me more about history in a few months than any teacher ever did.

No - history fail. Medieval Total War is the game you want for the Holy Roman Empire... About 1000 years later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire

biko

http://www.hotcoffeethemovie.com/Default.asp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBKRjxeQnT4