LibAnswers: Debunk and Reveal - 2024

Who is Liebeck and what happened to her?

In 1992, Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old elderly woman, ordered a cup of coffee from a McDonald’s drive-through in the passenger seat. Her grandson, the driver, pulled over into the parking lot so she could put sugar and cream into her coffee when Liebeck had spilled the coffee over herself. Suffering third-degree wounds instantaneously, she was hospitalized for 8 days and needed skin grafting for her inner thighs and lower areas. Her recovery lasted two years, but the scarring from this incident left her chronic pain and disabled for the rest of her life.

How much money did Liebeck want to settle versus what she got?

Liebeck wanted to settle with McDonald’s for $20,000, the majority of which would cover her medical expenses—the corporation offered $800. She brought the case to trial with attorney Reed Morgan (The Verdict). McDonald’s was given two chances to settle before the trial; however, McDonald’s refused (RETRO REPORT).

The trial juries found McDonald’s to be 80% at fault while Liebeck was 20% at fault. She was awarded $200,000 in compensatory damages—reduced to $160,000 due to Liebeck’s partial responsibility. She was also awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages, equivalent to around two days’ McDonald’s revenue sales. The judge reduced the punitive damages to $480,000, three times the compensatory damages. McDonald’s and Liebeck had settled for a confidential amount out of court (Center for Justice & Democracy).

How did misinformation get so rampant with Liebeck v McDonald’s Restaurants?

American Museum of Tort Law states “Liebeck’s case got picked up by the media, and the story that got relayed was sometimes distilled to little more than: A woman made $2.7 million by spilling coffee on herself” (Burtka). Many other newspapers and services picked up the original journal made by Albuquerque Journal, each “condensed telling of the story created its version of the truth.” Many of them had run under the narration that Liebeck was driving with the cup of coffee between her legs when it had spilled. No matter what narration it was, the Liebeck family suffers from misunderstandings of the case. (RETRO REPORT).

Were there any cases like Liebeck's?

It was found during the trial that there were around 700 cases of severe burns from McDonald’s hot coffees, ranging from dates 1982 to 1992. It was stated that “In fact, [the quality-assurance manager] was surprised that the [case] number wasn’t much larger” (Allen). Attorney Morgan had also worked on a case with a client who had a severe burn(s) of a hot liquid (The Verdict).

Since Liebeck, several lawsuits and cases have followed regarding corporations. Corporations are as follows but are not limited to McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, Denny’s, Southwest Airlines, and Continental Airlines (Glass). One McDonald’s case is of 74-year-old Joan Fino, who was burnt by its hot coffee in a drive-through window in August 2012 (Lopez). It doesn’t have to be a fast-food restaurant chain for lawsuits to happen, as ABC News states, “Schools and hospitals are popular targets for ruthless litigants” (ABC News).

References

ABC News. 'I'm Being Sued for WHAT?'. 2 May 2007. Web.

Allen, Charles. Fighting Over More Than Just Spilled Coffee : Liability suits: What really happened in the McDonald’s case? The system worked. 23 March 1995. Web.

Burtka, Allison Torres. Liebeck v. McDonald’s. n.d. Web. 6 December 2024.

Center for Justice & Democracy. McDonalds' Hot Coffee Case - Read the Facts NOT the Fiction. n.d. Web. 6 December 2024.

Glass, Jeremy. The 10 Best Spilled Hot Coffee Lawsuits In History. 29 June 2015. Web.

Lopez, Pablo. Clovis woman, 74, sues McDonald's over burns from hot coffee . 24 October 2013. Web.

RETRO REPORT. “The Misunderstood McDonald’s Hot Coffee Lawsuit | Retro Report on PBS.” YouTube, 31 Oct. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENTaHxjN4xI.

The Verdict. The Verdict: How the Hot Coffee Lawsuit Led to Tort Reform. 10 September 2020. Web.