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N early 20 years ago, a jury in Albuquerque, N.M., hit the heated to between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit. It was served world's largest quick-service restaurant chain with a at between 180 and 190 degrees Fahrenheit, also in line with multi-million dollar judgment merely for doing some- McDonald's standards. The cup contained the warning "Caution: thing that coffee retailers do millions of times each and every day: Contents Hot" in small print. selling a customer a fresh, steaming-hot cup of coffee. The verdict After pulling out of the drive-thru lane, Liebeck's grandson is so well-known that it's now commonly referred to simply as stopped at a curb in the restaurant's parking lot so she could "the McDonald's case." From the moment it was announced, the add cream and sugar to the black coffee. Liebeck placed the cup judgment was criticized as an example of the legal system gone between her knees and pried off the plastic lid. The cup then haywire, with critics wondering how someone could receive a ver- tipped over and the hot liquid spilled onto her lap, soaking into dict for nearly $3 million by claiming that the coffee she bought her sweatpants. By the time she was admitted to a hospital, was "unreasonably" hot … when coffee is supposed to be hot. Liebeck had suffered third-degree burns on her thighs, butYou might assume these sorts of cases are rarely filed any- tocks and genitals. She was hospitalized for a week and evenmore, and that when they are they're hardly considered a threat. tually had to undergo skin graft surgery. Photographs showing However, people are still seeking compensation in court for her charred and eventually scarred skin were taken at some spilling hot coffee on themselves. A leading expert on hot-coffee point during her treatment. spills estimates that about 10 hot beverage cases are pendAfter an unsuccessful attempt to settle with McDonald's on ing in American courts at any her own, Liebeck hired a lawyer one time. And the allegations in who filed suit on her behalf in these cases are the same ones New Mexico state court. The There is ample reason for conraised in the McDonald's case. complaint alleged the coffee Why are these cases still being had been "defective" because it cern on the part of the retail brought? For one thing, retail was "excessively, dangerously coffee is still being brewed and hot" and that Liebeck had not coffee industry. The high brewserved at the same temperabeen adequately warned about ing and holding temperature for tures as it was back when the its risks. She asked for $12,500 McDonald's case was tried. And in medical expenses and addiretail coffee has not changed if that coffee is spilled on sometional amounts for pain and sufone's clothes shortly after it is fering, disfigurement and dissince Liebeck bought her cup of served and stays in contact with ability. She also demanded that skin long enough, it can cause punitive damages be imposed coffee back in 1992. third-degree burns requiring against McDonald's. hospitalization and even skin The trial, held two years after grafts. Moreover, pictures of the suit was filed, lasted seven these burns are usually particularly gruesome and thus can be days. Liebeck's lawyers argued that McDonald's coffee was hotvery compelling evidence to a jury. ter than that of other retailers and much hotter than the coffee Not surprisingly, such suits are costly: A guilty verdict against consumers made at home. They also asserted that in the 10 years a shop could affect sales and (at the very least) mean higher before the accident, McDonald's had received more than 700 insurance rates for the retailer. Read on for a deeper look at the complaints about excessively hot coffee but had not reduced the McDonald's case and how courts have handled hot beverage cases brewing or holding temperatures or revised its warning labels. in the last 20 years, followed by some practical suggestions on And they showed those pictures of Liebeck's injuries to the jury. how coffee retailers can prevent or limit their liability for hotThe jury deliberated for only four hours before returning a coffee spills. judgment against McDonald's. Although it found that Liebeck was partly responsible for the accident, the jury decided that she was entitled to $160,000 for her medical expenses and other THE LASTING LEGACY OF THE direct damages. It also awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages, MCDONALD'S CASE representing two days' revenue from McDonald's nationwide It all started in a drive-thru lane on a cool, sunny morning in coffee sales. The trial judge reduced the punitive damages to Albuquerque. On Feb. 27, 1992, 79-year-old retired sales clerk $480,000 and the case settled some months later for an undisStella Liebeck was in the passenger seat of a car driven by her closed amount. grandson when they stopped for breakfast. Along with her Egg Simply put, Liebeck's lawyers played on the jury's sympathies by McMuffin, Liebeck ordered a $0.49 cup of coffee. Served in a highlighting the severity of her injuries. They made the company Styrofoam cup topped with a plastic lid, the beverage had been look like the corporate "bad guy" that had knowingly sold customers brewed according to McDonald's specifications, with the water "dangerously hot" coffee. And McDonald's lawyers did not use an continued on page 46 freshcup.com July 2013 45