Hot Coffee Case

The infamous “Hot Coffee” case where a 79-year-old woman, Stella Liebeck, spilled McDonald’s on her lap. The actual facts state that after purchasing the coffee she got into the car, which her grandson was driving, and she put the coffee in her lap attempting to take the lid off of it. While removing the lip the 180-190 degree coffee spilled all over her lap causing third-degree burns on her thighs and groin areas. After being hospitalized she settle a claim for $20,000 but McDonald’s refused. McDonald’s had many previous cases about their hot coffee, but none of them were taken seriously except this one.  Later she sent a letter asking to pay for her medical expenses, McDonald’s gave her $800 after they received her letter. She then went to court few more times; she said that she was not in it for the money. Liebeck just wanted the coffee to be lowered to a comfortable temperature.  McDonald’s sell to mostly sell the coffee to customers that are on their way to work, so they think that they will drink it when they get there not in the car.  They also said the customers want the coffee hot, so that’s how they always made it. The company also said that there is not a warning side but a “reminder” that the coffee is hot. The jury said that Liebeck was 20 percent at fault for what happened, so the compensation damages were cut to $160,000, but rewarded her $2.7 million in punitive damages. The money she received oddly equaled two days of coffee sales at McDonald’s. After the trial a local McDonald’s said that they lowered the coffee temperature to a comfortable 158 degrees. In my opinion both McDonald’s and Liebeck were at fault. Yes the coffee was hot, but it was her choice to open the coffee in the car.