Injury Law - Looking at McDonalds Coffee

Posted on February 3, 2009 by Paula Strand

Everyone knows that coffee’s hot: A second look at the McDonald’s coffee verdict

Common sense tells us that coffee is going to be hot. Therefore it seems hard to believe that the injured woman in the McDonald’s coffee case received an award from the jury in the million dollar range- for spilling hot coffee on herself. What were these jurors thinking? Did the lawyers in the case somehow round up a group of people unfamiliar with coffee, or unfamiliar with everyday thought processing? This seems unlikely. To understand why the lady in the McDonald’s case received such a high award requires an analysis of the case that goes beyond common sense.

Let’s start with an examination of the facts in the case that has become one of the most common examples of how current society is needlessly over-litigious. Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants, as it is properly known, occurred in 1994 and involved a 79-year old woman as the plaintiff, a grandmother named Stella Liebeck. Ms. Liebeck ordered coffee from the drive-through window of a McDonald’s in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the time of the incident, Ms. Liebeck was not driving, but was in the passenger seat of the vehicle. While the vehicle was at a complete stop, and the coffee cup held between her legs, Ms. Liebeck attempted to remove the lid of cup. The coffee spilled on her legs causing third degree burns over 6 percent of her body. The treatment of these injuries required an eight day hospital stay, and skin grafting procedures. Ms. Liebeck was required to undergo more treatments for her injuries over the two years that followed.
 

This is a much more severe injury than one might expect from a coffee spill, and rightfully so. The reason that Ms. Liebeck was so badly burned is because McDonald’s had a policy of serving its coffee at temperatures of 180- to 190 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature hot enough to scald human flesh. Normally, coffee is served at approximately 130- 140 degrees. In fact, liquids at temperatures of 140 degrees and above pose a danger of causing burns to the skin if spilled. McDonald’s was also aware that the coffee it was serving was dangerously hot, because they had received over 700 similar complaints in the past due to injuries from the dangerously hot beverage. Many of these claims involved third-degree burn injuries similar to those sustained by Ms. Liebeck.

In spite of her injuries Ms. Liebeck did not even want to bring her case to trial. She wanted to settle with McDonald’s for $20,000. However McDonald’s offered her only $800 and therefore the case went to trial. The jury awarded $200,000 in compensatory damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages. The version of the ‘coffee case’ with which many of us are familiar insinuates that Ms. Liebeck received such a windfall from this case. But Ms. Liebeck did not make off with a fortune in spite of her injuries. The compensatory damages were reduced by 20% because the jury found that although 80% of the fault for the accident could be attributed to McDonald’s, but 20% of the fault could be attributed to Ms. Liebeck. Additionally the trial judge reduced the punitive damages to $480,000 or three times the amount of the compensatory damages. Yet, even after the case the parties entered into a secret settlement, so the public is unlikely to ever know exactly how much Ms. Liebeck received.

The actual version of this case stands in stark contrast to the popularly propagated version. Not only did Ms. Liebeck suffer serious injuries, but McDonald’s was fully aware that the temperature at which it served its coffee was scalding hot. In fact, after this case the McDonald’s at which Ms. Liebeck’s injuries occurred stopped serving coffee at such a hot temperature and now serves its coffee at about 150- 160 degrees. This case also serves as a lesson and a reminder about personal injury lawsuits. The trial judge in this case even categorized the actions of McDonald’s as reckless, callous, and willful. Although the initial premise of such a suit may seem to fly in the face of common sense, everyday people are injured under ordinary and seemingly innocent circumstances. In fact these are the circumstances under which great deals of injury cases occur. No one ever expects to be injured, and no one should have to live their life expecting the worst at any moment. If you or a family member believes that you have a personal injury case, please contact Greenberg & Bederman for a free legal consultation.
 

To learn more about our maryland personal injury lawyers, please read about Andrew Bederman, Roger Greenberg, John Sellinger, or Jason Fernandez, or contact Greenberg & Bederman for a free case review..
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