Hot Coffee Blows the Cap Off Tort Reform
Remember that lady who sued McDonald’s because her coffee was too hot? She got millions of dollars after driving down the freeway while drinking her coffee and accidentally spilling it on her lap. If she could actually be drinking the coffee, how hot could it have been, many people wondered. If you remember that story, you remember incorrectly.
“That lady” was Stella Liebeck; she was seated on the passenger side of her grandson's vehicle which was parked in a McDonald’s parking lot. She held the coffee between her knees to steady it as she attempted to remove the lid from the cup, and 180 degree coffee poured over her lap and down her thighs. She suffered third-degree burns and required skin grafts. Her medical bills were over $10,000 and McDonald’s offered her $800—despite company policy that required coffee to be held at 180-190 degrees, they acted as if they had no liability. Oh, yeah—and McDonald’s provided evidence that there had been 700 burn reports prior to Liebeck’s injury.
Hot Coffee, a documentary released on DVD by Docurama Films, reminds us of that infamous case, sharing photos of Stella Liebeck’s injuries which were far beyond anything most people imagined. The lawsuit inspired pundits of every stripe and late night comics, providing them with enough material to keep busy for months. But what did we know? Some woman was driving her car and spilled her coffee, thereby becoming rich. Rich? The jury award was reduced by over 75%. After paying medical bills and lawyers’ fees, she was lucky if there was enough left over for a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Frivolous lawsuit? Big Business has managed to make that term a part of our regular vocabulary, and use it to increase profits and escape responsibility for wrongdoing. Many were convinced consumers and patients who won large awards were doing it at a cost to the American consumer—those frivolous lawsuits were picking our pockets and tying up valuable court time that would be better spent on “important” cases (things that would benefit "me"). And so was born the “tort reform” movement, invented to protect Big Business from its own responsibilities. When will we learn that when Big Business campaigns for something that will benefit Big Business, it’s something that will hurt the rest of us?
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati