Accidentally spilled scalding-hot mcdonald coffee

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Reference no: EM132163380

Eighty-one-year-old Stella Liebeck was a passenger in a parked car, when she accidentally spilled scalding-hot McDonald's coffee on herself. (McDonald's allegedly kept its coffee at 180 degrees, 40 degrees hotter than most people serve coffee, to maintain peak flavor). The spill caused second and third degree burns that required skin graphs and left scars.

When McDonald's offered Liebeck $800 of the $2000 medical expenses she had asked for, Liebeck sued. After hearing that there had been 700 complaints about scalding coffee, the jury found for Stella and awarded her $160,000 compensatory damages and another $2.7 million in punitive. The latter were reduced on appeal to $480,000.

The question is: How might you use the above scenario to argue for/against tort reform and what do you think should happen if the case were appealed?

Reference no: EM132163380

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