Remember the woman who sued McDonald’s?

Even if you are among those who have no clue about law, this story can be worth reading. It is a colorful explanation of what tort laws are about – indicated with the famous story of the woman who sued McDonald’s. Torts are what in Europe is taught under the discipline of ‘wrongful acts’. Let’s see how ‘wrongful’ McDonald’s acted.

Did she really drink and drive?

We all ‘know’ the case of the woman who sued McDonald’s because she spilled coffee whilst she was driving, and severely burnt herself. Apparently, she won millions. Based on what they have heard of the case, most Europeans believe that instead of receiving damages her driving license should have been taken away for the mere fact that she was drinking a beverage whilst driving. European drivers don’t appreciate the idea of cup holders in cars in the first place. But driving is exactly what she did not do. Indeed the woman, Stella, bought coffee at a McDonald’s. The rest of the story is totally different from lore and anecdotal evidence. It was her nephew, Chris, who was driving the car. On top of it, because Stella wanted to add sugar and milk to the coffee Chris had stopped the car. That is when Stella spilled the coffee – as a passenger in a stationary car.

$200,000 for serious burns

What became important was the temperature of the coffee. It was so hot that Stella suffered serious burns, not only to her legs but also to her genitals. As a result her skin had to be replaced. Because Stella’s insurance didn’t pay for all of the expenses she asked McDonald’s to pay the difference, plus lost wages, in total $20,000. McDonald’s offered $800. Only then did Stella go to court.

A jury awarded her $200,000 for the injury. The jury also held her partly at fault, at 20%. This means that she got $160,000 for medical treatment, skin grafting and lost wages.

McDonald’s deliberately served its coffee too hot

The multi-million dollar story that goes around concerns punitive damages. During the court proceedings one surprise followed another. McDonald’s deliberately served its coffee much hotter than anyone at home or following industry standards would expect. At those higher temperatures McDonald’s could press more flavor out of ground coffee and produce more coffee with fewer beans. It also turned out that McDonald’s had already received hundreds of complaints about skin burns and that its own legal department had warned against the practice. So, the jury awarded punitive damages for McDonald’s irresponsible behavior. The initial sum was $2.7 million, or 2 days worth of McDonald’s’ coffee sales. McDonald’s appealed and the amount was reduced to $480.000. To avoid longer proceedings the parties settled. The exact amount of the settlement remains confidential but is said to be below $600.000, including the $160.000 for medical expenses.

All being said it is not a case in which an incompetent driver got millions for being stupid. In effect it became a product liability case and the company was held to be knowingly and willingly selling a defective product.

An explanation of tort laws

Tort laws protect a person against bodily injury and damages. These damages can be inflicted to property, financial resources or reputation. They are usually compensated or restored so that the person is restored to the situation in which he was before the tort was committed.

In “Conducting Transatlantic Business – Basic Legal Distinctions in the US and Europe” written by August G. Minke you can read more of these easy explanations of legal foundations, based on business between the US and Europe.