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DISCLAIMER: I have no way to verify the following claims as I recieved this as an email forward. I do know the last one is an old urban legend. However knowing the US's excuse for a legal system the others may have validity
It's time once again to consider the candidates for the 2003 Stella Awards. The Stella's are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonalds.
That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most uniquely successful lawsuits in the United States for last year. Actually, joint awards should be given to the plaintiff attorneys and the flaming idiots on the juries who awarded anything at all to these morons--who deserved
NOTHING!!!!
The following are this year's candidates:
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $780,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking -her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the
store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.
A 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.
Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't reenter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed, to the tune of $500,000.
Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx! (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth.
This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.
This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr.Grazinski purchased a brand new 32- foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having
driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that he couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons buying their recreation vehicles.
[ 04-24-2003, 04:53 AM: Message edited by: THE Franta ]
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The Stella one is really unfair. She was really badly injured. Thos fuckers at McDonalds deserved it.
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She had the fucking cup in her goddamn lap!
If I take a drill and put it to my head my family should so the manufacturer because it worked too good?
Should the guy driving the Porsche sppeding down the highway and kills a pedestrian be able to sue because the company made the car go too fast?
BULLSHIT!
People need to take responsibility for their own STUPIDITY!
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Complete insanity........
those people need to be hanged, not awarded money for their stupidity.....
but eh, we live in the "why work, when you can sue" society.....
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When I worked at McDonalds briefly, one of my co-workers somehow managed to spill an entire pot of hot coffee all over himself (face, chest, arms). He didn't get hurt. He didn't go to a doctor. He didn't get workmans comp. He just got fear-induced sympathy from his manager and a slap across the head from his co-worker.
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He didn't sue McDonald's? He really is a moron. :)
Franta, thanks for mentioning the story where the woman tripped over her kid. I heard about this but wasn't sure if it happened or not.
And what about the guy who sued McDonald's because he was fat. Or was that a 2002 Stella nominee?
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I've read these before from actual news sites. I'm fairly sure they're not fake. I just can't believe these actually succeeded. Cochran musta been the attorny... quote:
If the bitch done fall, she should win it all!
If the hand got smashed, he gotta be cashed!
If the thief got stuck, give him a buck!
Even if he shot the dog, give him something green as a frog!
If she busted her tail, send her dough in the mail!
She fell while bustin' in, but she still should win!
Since the company didn't warn him, you should really reward him! Get him some cash, and a new motor home to go where he roam!
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You guys should go to www.snopes.comIts an urban legend website. Most of this stuff isn't real.
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Well the one with the women in the car is it was just on the news...then again after all that stuff at the New York Times...
plus CNN reported that a radio traffic girl won the lottery when it was a whacky stunt of some morning zoo.
And lets not forget HUNTING FOR BAMBI.
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quote:
Originally posted by THE Franta:
She had the fucking cup in her goddamn lap!
If I take a drill and put it to my head my family should so the manufacturer because it worked too good?
Should the guy driving the Porsche sppeding down the highway and kills a pedestrian be able to sue because the company made the car go too fast?
BULLSHIT!
People need to take responsibility for their own STUPIDITY!
Just saw this.
Ok, this is what happened.
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm
quote:
There is a lot of hype about the McDonalds' scalding coffee case. No
one is in favor of frivolous cases of outlandish results; however, it is
important to understand some points that were not reported in most of
the stories about the case. McDonalds coffee was not only hot, it was
scalding -- capable of almost instantaneous destruction of skin, flesh
and muscle. Here's the whole story.
Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was in the passenger seat of
her grandson's car when she was severely burned by McDonalds' coffee in
February 1992. Liebeck, 79 at the time, ordered coffee that was served
in a styrofoam cup at the drivethrough window of a local McDonalds.
After receiving the order, the grandson pulled his car forward and
stopped momentarily so that Liebeck could add cream and sugar to her
coffee. (Critics of civil justice, who have pounced on this case, often
charge that Liebeck was driving the car or that the vehicle was in
motion when she spilled the coffee; neither is true.) Liebeck placed
the cup between her knees and attempted to remove the plastic lid from
the cup. As she removed the lid, the entire contents of the cup spilled
into her lap.
The sweatpants Liebeck was wearing absorbed the coffee and held it next
to her skin. A vascular surgeon determined that Liebeck suffered full
thickness burns (or third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body,
including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin
areas. She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she
underwent skin grafting. Liebeck, who also underwent debridement
treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds
refused.
During discovery, McDonalds produced documents showing more than 700
claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992. Some claims
involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebecks. This
history documented McDonalds' knowledge about the extent and nature of
this hazard.
McDonalds also said during discovery that, based on a consultants
advice, it held its coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees fahrenheit to
maintain optimum taste. He admitted that he had not evaluated the
safety ramifications at this temperature. Other establishments sell
coffee at substantially lower temperatures, and coffee served at home is
generally 135 to 140 degrees.
Further, McDonalds' quality assurance manager testified that the company
actively enforces a requirement that coffee be held in the pot at 185
degrees, plus or minus five degrees. He also testified that a burn
hazard exists with any food substance served at 140 degrees or above,
and that McDonalds coffee, at the temperature at which it was poured
into styrofoam cups, was not fit for consumption because it would burn
the mouth and throat. The quality assurance manager admitted that burns
would occur, but testified that McDonalds had no intention of reducing
the "holding temperature" of its coffee.
Plaintiffs' expert, a scholar in thermodynamics applied to human skin
burns, testified that liquids, at 180 degrees, will cause a full
thickness burn to human skin in two to seven seconds. Other testimony
showed that as the temperature decreases toward 155 degrees, the extent
of the burn relative to that temperature decreases exponentially. Thus,
if Liebeck's spill had involved coffee at 155 degrees, the liquid would
have cooled and given her time to avoid a serious burn.
McDonalds asserted that customers buy coffee on their way to work or
home, intending to consume it there. However, the companys own research
showed that customers intend to consume the coffee immediately while
driving.
McDonalds also argued that consumers know coffee is hot and that its
customers want it that way. The company admitted its customers were
unaware that they could suffer thirddegree burns from the coffee and
that a statement on the side of the cup was not a "warning" but a
"reminder" since the location of the writing would not warn customers of
the hazard.
The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages. This amount
was reduced to $160,000 because the jury found Liebeck 20 percent at
fault in the spill. The jury also awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in
punitive damages, which equals about two days of McDonalds' coffee
sales.
Post-verdict investigation found that the temperature of coffee at the
local Albuquerque McDonalds had dropped to 158 degrees fahrenheit.
The trial court subsequently reduced the punitive award to $480,000 --
or three times compensatory damages -- even though the judge called
McDonalds' conduct reckless, callous and willful.
No one will ever know the final ending to this case.
The parties eventually entered into a secret settlement which has never
been revealed to the public, despite the fact that this was a public
case, litigated in public and subjected to extensive media reporting.
Such secret settlements, after public trials, should not be condoned.
So Stella gets shit for suing McDonalds over spilling coffe on her lap, when in fact they had coffee far hotter than it should have been, and hot ebough to give Stella 3rd degree burns and hospitalise her for 8 days to get skin grafts.
We not talking about when I spill coffee which I make on my pants and it hurts a bit, here. McDonalds bumped up the temperature to a degree which was dangerous.
The jury even discounted the award by 20% because she was clumsy. Doesn't change the fact that McDonalds coffee was hot enough to cause skin grafts.
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I see so its normal for people to take the coffee and pour over their skin...sure why not!
FUCK THAT!
She's still an idiot, she spilled it on herself whatever the damage was done to her is her own damned fault.
This kid I worked with try to blow his brains out missed and blew off half his face should he sue the gun manufacturer because it didnt kill him like he wanted?
If drink a beer higher in alcohol content than I normally do and go out driving do I not deserve a DUI? Even though one of my normal beers wouldnt put me over the limit but the higher alcohol content one does.
She SPILLED the coffee not Ronald or Grimace or even Hambuglar STELLA SPILLED THE COFFEE!!!!!!!
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I agree with Franta. Sure, McDonald's was wrong for bumping up the temperature of the coffee, but it's still hot coffee no matter what the temperature is. And if you cause injury to yourself with it (especially by opening the lid with the coffee in your lap), you should take the blame.
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quote:
Originally posted by Snapman:
He didn't sue McDonald's? He really is a moron.
As an employee of McDonalds, injured on the job, he would normally be prevented from suing. He would be paid by Worker's Comp instead.
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quote:
Originally posted by the G-man:
quote:
Originally posted by Snapman:
He didn't sue McDonald's? He really is a moron.
As an employee of McDonalds, injured on the job, he would normally be prevented from suing. He would be paid by Worker's Comp instead.
Whatever. I was just joking about him not suing like everyone mentioned in Franta's post did.
By the way, G-Man, you corrected the post I made, so I'm suing you for emotional suffering.
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And I will, of course, countersue for your breach of in quantum meruit. You owe me $500.00 for my legal advice. ![[wink]](images/icons/wink.gif)
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quote:
Originally posted by THE Franta:
I see so its normal for people to take the coffee and pour over their skin...sure why not!
FUCK THAT!
She's still an idiot, she spilled it on herself whatever the damage was done to her is her own damned fault.
This kid I worked with try to blow his brains out missed and blew off half his face should he sue the gun manufacturer because it didnt kill him like he wanted?
If drink a beer higher in alcohol content than I normally do and go out driving do I not deserve a DUI? Even though one of my normal beers wouldnt put me over the limit but the higher alcohol content one does.
She SPILLED the coffee not Ronald or Grimace or even Hambuglar STELLA SPILLED THE COFFEE!!!!!!!
But she didn't spill coffee at normal temperature. If she did, no one would care. She'd have to send her pants off for dry cleaning or use extra detergent in the wash. No one would give a rat's arse.
The point is that McDonalds were fucking around. They were keeping their coffee at a temperature "to maintain optimal taste" - and as it says above,
quote:
McDonalds coffee was not only hot, it was
scalding -- capable of almost instantaneous destruction of skin, flesh and muscle.
The consultant who told them to do this admitted he hadn't thought about the safety ramifications of this.
They took a risk with a liquid which was far too hot. I once dated a girl who had burns over 25% of her body. She got those burns as a baby when her mum didn't check the temperature of the bath. Her skin peeled off, and she's scarred all over.
This is what happened to Stella Lieback. You don't have skin grafts for the fun of it.
McDonalds created a hazard. Worse, they didn't warn anyone that the coffee was hotter than usual, so most people would have assumed it was just normal temperature coffee. If you bought coffee, you wouldn't do more than swear if you spilled it on yourself and wouldn't be more careful than usual... but if you buy a coffee knowing its hot enough to give you skin grafts if you spill it, you'd be a damn sight more careful. I know I'd be a shitload more careful carrying molten asphalt than just plain coffee.
Again, the issue is not that she was clumsy enough to spill it. No one is denying that she was clumsy. And as I said the jury discounted some of her award on that basis. The issue is the McDonalds were serving people coffee hot enough to send them into surgery if they did spill it.
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Nope still dont agree...
Stupid is stupid I dont care what her damage was...SHE SPILLED IT...if she knew it was hot I highly doubt she would have been any less careless and still would have sued.
Its like a case I heard in a hospital where a nurse used a sheet to keep a confused patient from crawling out of bed instead of using a safety vest as she couldnt find one. The patient ended up suffocating himself pulling against the sheet. The court asked the nurse WHERE WAS THE INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO USE A SHEET TO HOLD A PATIENT IN BED. Obviously there is none.
My point being its not normal use of coffee to be poured in your lap when one (in this case Stella) does pour it on one's lap. That individual should be the sole person responsible for that individual's act. McDOnald's clearly could not know that Stella was stupid enopugh to pour the coffee on her lap. If theychoose to put the coffee at higher temp to maintain optimal taste so be it. They could not assume some moron was going to dump it in her lap.
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Another thing is if the coffee was hot enough to cause "instantaneous destruction of skin", then wouldn't it be hot enough to burn the inside of your mouth if you drank it? Or is the human mouth more resistant to higher temperatures than the outside of the body?
What I'm saying is would Stella still be burned if she immediately drank the coffee instead of spilling it? If so, then McDonald's is definitely to blame. But not if she burned herself through clumsiness.
Please forgive any ignorance I may have on the subject, since I'm not a coffee drinker.
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Go Franta!
It's your (brother's past) birfday!
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quote:
Originally posted by Snapman:
Another thing is if the coffee was hot enough to cause "instantaneous destruction of skin", then wouldn't it be hot enough to burn the inside of your mouth if you drank it? Or is the human mouth more resistant to higher temperatures than the outside of the body?
The answer to that is here:
quote:
McDonalds' quality assurance manager testified that the company
actively enforces a requirement that coffee be held in the pot at 185
degrees, plus or minus five degrees. He also testified that a burn
hazard exists with any food substance served at 140 degrees or above,
and that McDonalds coffee, at the temperature at which it was poured
into styrofoam cups, was not fit for consumption because it would burn
the mouth and throat. The quality assurance manager admitted that burns
would occur, but testified that McDonalds had no intention of reducing
the "holding temperature" of its coffee.
quote:
What I'm saying is would Stella still be burned if she immediately drank the coffee instead of spilling it? If so, then McDonald's is definitely to blame. But not if she burned herself through clumsiness.
Please forgive any ignorance I may have on the subject, since I'm not a coffee drinker.
I don't drink it either, and drink tea when its luke warm. My wife likes having her mouth scorched though.
quote:
Nope still dont agree...
Stupid is stupid I dont care what her damage was...SHE SPILLED IT...if she knew it was hot I highly doubt she would have been any less careless and still would have sued.
Its like a case I heard in a hospital where a nurse used a sheet to keep a confused patient from crawling out of bed instead of using a safety vest as she couldnt find one. The patient ended up suffocating himself pulling against the sheet. The court asked the nurse WHERE WAS THE INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO USE A SHEET TO HOLD A PATIENT IN BED. Obviously there is none.
Sure, I agree that that is stupid: but there was nothing exceptional about the sheet was there? Stella's coffee was 50 degrees hotter than normal coffee.
quote:
My point being its not normal use of coffee to be poured in your lap when one (in this case Stella) does pour it on one's lap. That individual should be the sole person responsible for that individual's act. McDOnald's clearly could not know that Stella was stupid enopugh to pour the coffee on her lap. If theychoose to put the coffee at higher temp to maintain optimal taste so be it. They could not assume some moron was going to dump it in her lap.
Sure you're a moron if you drop hot coffee on yourself, but everyone does it. Liquids have the capacity to be spilled. As I said, the jury penalised her for being a clumsy git. But they got stuck into McDonalds for serving coffee hot enough to cause skin grafts to be necessary if it was spilled. And as I said, people do drop coffee, for better or for worse.
If I sold you a bottle of acid, you'd take special care not to spill it. Stella was not made aware that she needed to take speical care not to spill the superheated coffee.
And McDonalds have realised this - as have Starbucks. I see notices on their cups warning, "This beverage you're about to enjoy may be piping hot." Its letting people know that it can cause injury.
Some people think this is stepping over the line - you hear dumb stories about Superman capes sold to kids with notices on labels warning that the cape will not entitle wearers to fly. That seems stupid to me - anyone in their right mind knows that. But superheated coffee, which people might think is simply at normal temperature, is another thing entirely.
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Thanks for pointing out that part of the article, Dave. I read that after I posted and didn't realize the coffee could still burn her mouth. But I'm still not sure she should've sued when her negligence caused her burns (again, if she drank the coffee and was burned, she would've been in the right). It's like if she spilled hot soup into her lap and burned herself. She should know the substance is hot and should be careful.
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Sure, she knows its hot.
I know coffee can be hot - I've spilled it on myself.
But hot enough to cause 3rd degree burns and 2 weeks in hospital?
No one could expect that.
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You're missing the point...
Coffee is not made to be poured on the body.
As the case I showed above...the sheet manufacturer cannot be sued because the sheet was not made to tie people in bed.
If she was rushed to the hospital because her mouth suffered third degree burns, then I agree McDonald's is at fault.
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See to me this is a case where the system worked. Coffee should be hot & if you spill it on yourself you can reasonably expect some discomfort. What is unreasonable is purposely having the coffee temp hot enough to cause burns needing skin grafts. It's reasonable that coffee is going to be spilled & thats why most fast food places keep their coffee temps hot but not piping hot. Because this cost them some money Mcdonalds lowers the temp on the coffee preventing other people from being severely burned.
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quote:
Originally posted by Matter-eater Man:
See to me this is a case where the system worked. Coffee should be hot & if you spill it on yourself you can reasonably expect some discomfort. What is unreasonable is purposely having the coffee temp hot enough to cause burns needing skin grafts. It's reasonable that coffee is going to be spilled & thats why most fast food places keep their coffee temps hot but not piping hot. Because this cost them some money Mcdonalds lowers the temp on the coffee preventing other people from being severely burned.
I completely agree.
quote:
Liebeck, who also underwent debridement
treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds
refused.
The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages. This amount
was reduced to $160,000 because the jury found Liebeck 20 percent at
fault in the spill. The jury also awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in
punitive damages, which equals about two days of McDonalds' coffee
sales.
Which is the ONLY way you get corporations to actually listen nowadays. I'm sure now that I won't have to wait an hour to actually be able to drink my coffe without destroying my tounge much less needing skin grafts if i accidentally spill it on myself.
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Well, when you look at it, look at it like this: Did Mcdonalds brake any laws when making the coffee 50 degrees hotter that usual, No? well, how do you justify Stella suing them?, you can´t because she was clumsy and she should accepted the consequences of her own clumsiness!
A burglar robbed the insurance company of the houseowner???
I think America is the only place in the world where such lawsuits are allowed!
if a man in Europe tried a stunt like that he would recieve a heavy fine for wasting the time and resources of the court!
But hey, it´s what makes America a great nation, all people are free, so free in fact that responsibility seems nonexistant sometimes!
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=9&u=/ap/20030908/ap_on_re_us/aaa_negligence_trial_2 quote:
AAA on Trial in Slaying of Motorist
Mon Sep 8, 3:10 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer
BOSTON - In the summer of 1999, AAA got a call about a young woman whose car had broken down in a parking lot on Cape Cod. The auto club told the woman's stepfather it would send help.
AP Photo
Melissa Gosule never made it home that night.
Her body was found in a shallow grave eight days later. She had been raped and stabbed to death.
Gosule's family sued AAA for unspecified damages, claiming that if the auto club had done its job that night, she would be alive today. Jury selection began Monday in state court in the negligence and wrongful-death case.
The case is being watched closely because it is the first time AAA has been sued in the death of a motorist who was killed after seeking assistance from the auto club, legal experts said.
Every year, the American Automobile Association, with a dues-paying membership of more than 46 million in the United States and Canada, gets about 30 million calls from motorists who need help with dead batteries, flat tires and other roadside problems.
In their lawsuit, Gosule's parents, Leslie Gosule and Sandra Glaser, and her stepfather, Peter Glaser, claim AAA left Gosule stranded and forced to turn to a stranger for help. That stranger, Michael Gentile, killed her.
"AAA is not who they say they are," Leslie Gosule said recently in a statement. "Had AAA done what they tell the world they do and what they said they were going to do — provide reliable and reasonable emergency roadside assistance that night — Melissa would still be with us."
Gosule's parents note that AAA, in its marketing materials, touts the peace of mind it provides to motorists in trouble. "One call to AAA and your worries are over," reads one brochure. AAA also refers to itself as "family" and warns against depending on strangers: "In today's world, relying on strangers has become a scary (and sometimes dangerous) thing to do."
The lawsuit names national AAA; its local affiliate, AAA Southern New England; and the tow truck driver.
AAA disputes the family's claims that it did not offer Gosule help, and says it should not be held responsible for her death. Gentile, a newspaper delivery man with a long criminal record, was convicted of her murder and is now serving a life sentence.
On July 11, 1999, Gosule, a 27-year-old elementary school teacher, had returned at 5:30 p.m. from a bike ride at a park in Bourne to find that her 1986 Pontiac would not start.
It was about that time that she met Gentile, according to testimony during Gentile's trial in 2000.
Gosule used Gentile's cell phone to call her mother and stepfather, who told her he would call AAA for help. Gosule was not a member of AAA, but her stepfather was, and it is routine for the auto club to help out relatives of AAA members.
In their lawsuit, Gosule's family says her stepfather immediately called the AAA's 24-hour emergency roadside assistance number and asked that the car and Gosule be taken to a garage in Boston. John Cubellis, a tow truck driver whose company is an agent for AAA, arrived at the parking lot about 90 minutes later.
According to both sides, Cubellis told Gosule he was busy and it would be three to four hours before he could take her or her car to Boston, about 60 miles away. The Gosule family says Cubellis did not try to start the young woman's car, make sure she was taken to a safe location or call another AAA driver to help.
Gosule then accepted a ride from Gentile.
In court papers, AAA says Cubellis had no reason to believe Gosule was in danger. She was in a busy parking lot at the Sagamore Rotary with restaurants, a gas station and a fire station nearby. When he pulled into the parking lot, he saw Gosule talking and sharing a cell phone with two men — Gentile and a mechanic friend Gentile had called to look at the woman's car.
AAA says Gosule could have taken a taxi or had a family member come pick her up.
In a statement, a spokesman for AAA Southern New England called Gosule's death a "terrible tragedy."
"Our hearts go out to Melissa Gosule's family and friends," said Robert Murray. "In our history, we have never seen a case like this. We believe the auto club will be properly and completely exonerated."
Paul Martinek, editor in chief of Lawyers Weekly USA, a national legal newspaper, said the lawsuit was initially considered a long shot, but some of the claims could resonate with a jury.
"Proving that this was a foreseeable danger is a huge challenge — that AAA could have foreseen that a motorist would have accepted a ride from a total stranger and then be killed by that total stranger," Martinek said.
"But when you read these things about how AAA holds itself out as a protector of motorists and basically tries to get business by representing itself as a service that motorists need in part because it can be dangerous when your car breaks down, you start to see the lawsuit in a different light."
....now ive seen a lawsuit for everything....
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Joined: Oct 2001
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Hip To Be Square 15000+ posts
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Hip To Be Square 15000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2001
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In this country these ridiculous cases do not exist,but you can sue the company you work for if injury at work is caused by negligence from the company!
Often as not,the company will settle out of court!
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Joined: Oct 2000
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quote:
Originally posted by Matter-eater Man:
See to me this is a case where the system worked. Coffee should be hot & if you spill it on yourself you can reasonably expect some discomfort. What is unreasonable is purposely having the coffee temp hot enough to cause burns needing skin grafts. It's reasonable that coffee is going to be spilled & thats why most fast food places keep their coffee temps hot but not piping hot. Because this cost them some money Mcdonalds lowers the temp on the coffee preventing other people from being severely burned.
So if I spill coffee on an expensive white tux or some such...the coffee company is responsible for the cleaning bill?
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
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Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 53,734 Likes: 2 |
quote:
Originally posted by THE Franta:
quote:
Originally posted by britneyspearsatemyshorts:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=9&u=/ap/20030908/ap_on_re_us/aaa_negligence_trial_2
....now ive seen a lawsuit for everything....
Thats gotta be the stupidest case of guilt Ive ever seen!
The Father is too damn lazy to go pick up his daughter...so blame AAA coz she got raped. Why not also the car manufacturer for allowing the car to break down?
....what about the Park Service for letting murderers stalk the parking lot?
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Joined: Oct 2000
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10000+ posts
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quote:
Originally posted by whomod:
Which is the ONLY way you get corporations to actually listen nowadays. I'm sure now that I won't have to wait an hour to actually be able to drink my coffe without destroying my tounge much less needing skin grafts if i accidentally spill it on myself. [/QUOTE]
See its whiny bitches like you who ruin it for other people...
You want the rest of the world to have coffee served the way you want it instead of asking for a few ice cubes to be placed in it... and want McDonalds to pay for clumsiness.
Are you involved in with the same group who got real butter taken out of movie popcorn because it wasnt healthy?
And you want McDonalds to make healthy food so kids wont get fat instead having parents cook an actual meal for their kids.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
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Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
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But....but...but...
Spilling isn't the point.
Everyone spills shit. I spilled orange juice over myself last night.
The point is that it was too hot for human consumption.
Whether she burned her mouth out or burned her groin doesn't matter. Whether she drank the coffee or dumped it her lap doesn't matter.
McDonalds still fucked up.
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Everyone drives drunk
some people get in horrible accidents
some dont.
Do we sue the car manufacturers for making cars that allow us to drive drunk?
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Joined: Oct 2000
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I use a knife
I often accidentally cut myself.
If a knife is REALLY sharp
a knife that is really high quality
and I cut myself (because Im used to a dull knife)
and chop off my finger...
do I sue the knife company for making too sharp a knife?!?!?!
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 15,367 Likes: 13
Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
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Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
Joined: Jan 2002
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quote:
Originally posted by THE Franta:
Everyone drives drunk
some people get in horrible accidents
some dont.
Do we sue the car manufacturers for making cars that allow us to drive drunk?
Nope. Everyone knows cars go fast, and they know that if you're drunk you shouldn't drive because controlling a car going fast while you're drunk might end up killing someone.
But Stella Lieback didn't know the coffee could give her 3rd degree burns, whether she drank it or spilled it. In fact, she thought it was perfectly safe to drink.
That's the difference. Even if she hadn't spilled it, she would have drank it, and would have had the burns on her lips or mouth.
If she dropped it and it had ruined her dress, and nothing else, she'd have no claim against McDonalds to compensate her for her dress. That's just clumsy, and her own stupid fault.
But it didn't just ruin her dress - it put her in hospital. That's McDonalds' fault for serving coffee that was way too hot.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
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Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 15,367 Likes: 13 |
quote:
Originally posted by THE Franta:
I use a knife
I often accidentally cut myself.
If a knife is REALLY sharp
a knife that is really high quality
and I cut myself (because Im used to a dull knife)
and chop off my finger...
do I sue the knife company for making too sharp a knife?!?!?!
Nope - you know the knife is sharp.
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