<story><title>How A Lawsuit Over Hot Coffee Helped Erode the 7th Amendment</title><url>http://priceonomics.com/how-a-lawsuit-over-hot-coffee-helped-erode-the-7th/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>crusso</author><text>Sorry, I&amp;#x27;m still someone who doesn&amp;#x27;t get it.  Coffee is brewed hot (195 - 205 degrees F), and I personally like it to be freshly brewed as I drink it.  As I very carefully sipped my fresh Starbucks coffee today at the mall, I was very conscious of the fact that I had a hot beverage in my hand.  If I had accidentally spilled the coffee on myself or others it could have caused some serious burns... who else&amp;#x27;s fault would it have been but my own?  Would it have been Starbuck&amp;#x27;s fault?  I just can&amp;#x27;t adjust my thinking to making that so.&lt;p&gt;If I had gone into Williams &amp;amp; Sonoma and carelessly stabbed someone with a kitchen knife.  Would that have been W&amp;amp;S&amp;#x27;s fault?  It just makes no sense to me how we want to hold others responsible for giving us what we&amp;#x27;ve asked for.</text></item><item><author>TazeTSchnitzel</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve always (and I mean always; I&amp;#x27;ve long been aware about the real story) thought the comments about the coffee lawsuit were extremely cruel. &amp;#x27;Oh, hot coffee fell on her lap and burned her, and she sued for millions in damages!&amp;#x27; - hot coffee at an unreasonably high temperature fell on her lap and gave her &lt;i&gt;third-degree burns&lt;/i&gt;. To suggest she was suing over something trivial is horribly disrespectful to a woman who suffered that.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nemo</author><text>Read the actual trial history.  Your analogies don&amp;#x27;t reflect what actually happened, which is why you can&amp;#x27;t understand it.&lt;p&gt;Liebeck was hospitalized for 8 days with multiple skin grafts.  She asked asked McDonalds for medical expenses from the injury from the coffee and lost wages (&amp;lt;20k).  McDonalds offered $800.&lt;p&gt;At that point she got an attorney.  They tried to settle.  McDonalds refused.  In the trial it came out that McDonalds had more than 700 reports of medical injuries from the coffee that they were aware of.  Their internal quality control manager reported that they recognized that they were posing a burn hazard to customers with the heat of their coffee, but that it was a minor concern that they were unwilling to adjust.&lt;p&gt;McDonalds admitted that not only were they burning customers who drank the coffee straight from the cup, many of whom needed medical treatment, but that this was something they were unwilling to change.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s why the jury hit McDonalds with punitive damages of the profits of two day&amp;#x27;s sales of coffee (which the judge reduced).  Through the whole process McDonalds was acting like a criminally negligent bully unconcerned with injuring customers.  Punitive damages did correct this.</text></comment>
<story><title>How A Lawsuit Over Hot Coffee Helped Erode the 7th Amendment</title><url>http://priceonomics.com/how-a-lawsuit-over-hot-coffee-helped-erode-the-7th/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>crusso</author><text>Sorry, I&amp;#x27;m still someone who doesn&amp;#x27;t get it.  Coffee is brewed hot (195 - 205 degrees F), and I personally like it to be freshly brewed as I drink it.  As I very carefully sipped my fresh Starbucks coffee today at the mall, I was very conscious of the fact that I had a hot beverage in my hand.  If I had accidentally spilled the coffee on myself or others it could have caused some serious burns... who else&amp;#x27;s fault would it have been but my own?  Would it have been Starbuck&amp;#x27;s fault?  I just can&amp;#x27;t adjust my thinking to making that so.&lt;p&gt;If I had gone into Williams &amp;amp; Sonoma and carelessly stabbed someone with a kitchen knife.  Would that have been W&amp;amp;S&amp;#x27;s fault?  It just makes no sense to me how we want to hold others responsible for giving us what we&amp;#x27;ve asked for.</text></item><item><author>TazeTSchnitzel</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve always (and I mean always; I&amp;#x27;ve long been aware about the real story) thought the comments about the coffee lawsuit were extremely cruel. &amp;#x27;Oh, hot coffee fell on her lap and burned her, and she sued for millions in damages!&amp;#x27; - hot coffee at an unreasonably high temperature fell on her lap and gave her &lt;i&gt;third-degree burns&lt;/i&gt;. To suggest she was suing over something trivial is horribly disrespectful to a woman who suffered that.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>DanBC</author><text>McDonalds had ignored requests from CDC about correct brew temperature of coffee.  They were serving extra hot coffee despite being asked not to, and despite having had several previous accidents where people were injured.&lt;p&gt;She initially asked for her medical costs to be covered.  McDonalds declined, so she went to court.&lt;p&gt;Full thickness burns are not a trivial injury.  She was at risk of death.  Treatment is painful and takes a long time.  She would have been left with scarring and perhaps loss of function - because a fast food chain didn&amp;#x27;t care about customer safety.&lt;p&gt;Do you have access to a thermometer?  Try measuring the temperature of a cup of coffee that you make at home tree minutes after you&amp;#x27;ve made it.</text></comment>