Hot Coffee on HBO

[Om1kron]

HBO: Hot Coffee: Home (http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/hot-coffee/index.html)

HBO: Hot Coffee: Home (http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/hot-coffee/index.html#/documentaries/hot-coffee/synopsis.html/)

I can't cut n paste, read and possibly watch it. I am definitely going to read into what laws they're trying to pass and I will vote next time voting comes up. The part about the twins seriously broke my heart. I just watched it with my girlfriend for the second time and it still put tears in my eyes.

I really fucking hate some people and the shit they try to pull to keep money in their pockets.

[chiboy002]

can i purchase one viewing of this r something, from my computeR?

no one in my house watches TV so we don't have cable, let alone HBO/Comcast

[axiomatik]

Just read the synopsis, sounds pretty good.

Most people mock the Spilled Coffee case because all they have heard are the jokes from late night TV. Of course coffee is hot, but the woman got 3rd degree burns over a significant portion of her body, that is excessively hot. All she was seeking was for her medical bills to be covered (~$20,000).

But the jury found out that McDonald's had received hundreds of complaints from people injured by McD's coffee, including small children, and had never done anything. They were serving the coffee hotter than they had to, unnecessarily putting their customers at risk, at didn't care if it sent their customers to the hospital.

The jury then decided that instead of just awarding the amount requested, that they would tack on a punitive damage to force McDonalds into rethinking their policies instead of just going about business as usual. Frankly, it's a shame that people hold up this example as a joke, because the event was really a tragedy for the woman involved.

[K_style]

I just went to McD and they are giving a small size Coffee for FREE !! wonder if that has got to with this issue?? haha

[TheWolf]

Just read the synopsis, sounds pretty good.

Most people mock the Spilled Coffee case because all they have heard are the jokes from late night TV. Of course coffee is hot, but the woman got 3rd degree burns over a significant portion of her body, that is excessively hot. All she was seeking was for her medical bills to be covered (~$20,000).

But the jury found out that McDonald's had received hundreds of complaints from people injured by McD's coffee, including small children, and had never done anything. They were serving the coffee hotter than they had to, unnecessarily putting their customers at risk, at didn't care if it sent their customers to the hospital.

The jury then decided that instead of just awarding the amount requested, that they would tack on a punitive damage to force McDonalds into rethinking their policies instead of just going about business as usual. Frankly, it's a shame that people hold up this example as a joke, because the event was really a tragedy for the woman involved.

Yes and before that they were getting hundreds of complaints from customers that the coffee was too cold by the time they got to the office.

It's a lighting rod in history because it was one of the first examples that you don't have to be responsible for yourself. Mcdonalds didn't spill it on her. She did. It was a tragedy for the woman but it was a self inflicted tragedy. She has no one to blame but herself.

She got 3rd degree burns because she didn't want remove her cotton underwear in the parking lot and waiting for the EMTs to do so. Their argument was that mcdonalds was selling coffee that was "unreasonably dangerous" and "defectively manufactured". The case argues over about 20 degrees of temp difference. The jury eventually claimed that "HOT" wasn't big enough as if a 1" word hot is going to tell me something different than a 1/4" lettered "HOT".

Today the coffee is served no less than 5 degrees cooler and they just got a bigger legal team. So it didn't fix the "problem" and she wasn't after them to fix it, she just wanted money which other customers eventually pay for. It just became a sign to most personal injury law offices that you can make money even when the customer is clearly an idiot.

Great cases for tort reform would be.

Customer, who's kid was outside dancing on the parking bumpers, broke his ankle falling off, sued BK for state building code required concrete parking bumpers. :facepalm:

Black Kid throws brick through rear window of rival gangs car at pool hall down the street. Car owner sees him, and begins to give chase on foot. Kid is running down US-21 when he's finally caught by rival gang. They kick his ass, in the entrance to a BK parking lot. Kid who got beat up, sues BK for "inadequate parking security".:facepalm:

Sponge Bob Promotion is run. Inflatable sponge bobs are installed on the roof at all BK's. It becomes the new "hip" thing to steal. Each one stolen costs the owner of the store $7500. Kid cuts padlock to access roof ladder. Steals sponge bob, tries to climb down roof ladder while holding inflatable, slips 3 steps from ground, sues BK for hazardous ladder. Calls 911 from parking lot, claims he didn't steal sponge bob because it never left BK property. Cops eventually drop charges. :face palm:

This is why there needs to be tort reform which did start from the coffee case.

[andrew600]

the law firm i work at went crazy over this. they were giving away free coffee at the time. and they made it waaaay to hot so people wouldnt return for more. a lot of places did this besides mccdees. a lot of other places were sued as well.



btw you spelled excellence wrong.....

[axiomatik]

......

She got 3rd degree burns because she didn't want remove her cotton underwear in the parking lot and waiting for the EMTs to do so.

First, at 180 degrees, it only takes a few seconds to cause severe burns. She was 80 years old, sitting in a car, possibly with a seat belt on. There is no way that she (an 80-year old grandmother) could have gotten out of the car and stripped down fast enough to prevent serious burns.

When you go into a restaurant, I think you should have a reasonable expectation that the food you purchase isn't going to send you to the hospital for weeks.

she just wanted money which other customers eventually pay for.

She received 3rd degree burns over 16% of her body, she had to stay in the hospital for 8 days and receive skin grafts.

Liebeck sought to settle with McDonald's for $20,000 to cover her actual and anticipated expenses. Her past medical expenses were $10,500; her anticipated future medical expenses were approximately $2,500; and her loss of income was approximately $5,000 for a total of approximately $18,000

She was only trying to recoup her medical expenses, not get rich off of the situation. McDonald's offered $800.

Customer, who's kid was outside dancing on the parking bumpers, broke his ankle falling off, sued BK ........

All of those cases appear to be better examples for Tort Reform than the coffee lawsuit. But guess what? Frivolous lawsuits didn't start with the coffee case. There were frivolous lawsuits long before that. This one just became the most famous.