Mickey D's getting sued again..........

Have you seen the latest frivolous lawsuit news? Now McDonalds is getting sued because a man only got one napkin with his meal...and, supposedly, was refused another when he went to the counter and asked. His complaint email over the incident got him an offer of a bunch of free food, but that wasn't enough. Seems the mental anguish he suffered over the incident kept him from going to work...............giving him time to file a 1.5 million dollar lawsuit....... Taking bets on whether he wins.....Heck the woman who spilled her coffee won, but I'll admit I didn't hear the outcome of the folks that sued because the chain "made them obese".......in this case, given the idiots in the world now days, who knows......

Youre just jealous cuz you actually worked today, probably sweat, probably cussed, probably felt sore and achy when the day was over and didn't make as much money as this guy that didn't get a napkin, (if he wins the case) Ever heard the saying "work smart not hard" Im going to arbys tommarow and say I got screwed out of a few sesame seeds that were shown in the picture but I didn't get that many on the buns of my roast beef.

I was so mentally distraught because the cheese was crooked on my sandwich. What a load of poo.....lol.

The currant Readers Digest has a couple of pages on the coffee law suite. It is worth the effort to find and read.
No slam intended, just the facts of the case.

The outcome may depend on whether or not he and the judge can work out a satisfactory compensation plan! Know what I mean?

HMMMM !

Think I'll sue Burger King. They advertise "Have It Your Way" - but they flat REFUSE to let me have it MY way - "FREE" !

LOL !

Think I will sue. Because it took me two tries to pop the top on my BEER. Really upset me.

the story sounds false. At every McD's around here, you get your own napkins next to the condiments.

So your logic is this:
- The spilled coffee lawsuit was frivolous
- The woman who spilled her coffee won a big settlement
- Therefore, any frivolous lawsuit against McDonalds will succeed and collect a lot of money.

The problem is, your first two premises aren't actually correct. The woman suffered third-degree burns and required skin grafts. It came out in trial that at the time McDonalds required coffee to be kept at 190 degrees, far hotter than at most other restaurants. She actually collected $640,000, not the $2.9 million amount of the jury award. After hospital bills and attorney fees, do you really think what was left was worth subjecting oneself to third-degree burns?

The facts in the case are widely available, go ahead and google it.

How about the judge in Washington DC who sued a dry cleaner for $67 Million because they lost his pants. He really liked those pants.
Pants suit

You are right Mark. To bad today's media only spreads the news that fits their views.

Lady suffered for many years before passing on. There is a good story about it in this month's Readers Digest.

If any of you want to know the truth, look it up.

For the rest of you, just keep drinking the Kool Aid.

One thing is sure..... I'll never have to sue the above mentioned resturant chain.... because I won't go there!

And the trouble with that logic is the consumer is no longer responsible for their own behavior even if they are doing something stupid.
If they get hurt it's someone else's fault.
That's why to even install a storm door there are more safety warnings in the installation instructions than there are chapters in War and Peace. And so many safety stickers on a lawn mower, weed wacker, or tractor that they don't need to paint them any more - just cover everything with stickers.
Of course with the educational system we have no one knows how to read them but that's an issue for another topic, I mean, lawsuit.

UD, are you trying to say you've never dumped a cup of hot coffee in your lap? You've lived a charmed life, then. I know I've done it more than once, but fortunately it was never scalding hot.

I can't remember ever doing that actually.
I always put coffee in the cup holder where it belongs.
That's not to say I haven't done other stupid things. But I didn't blame others when I had to suffer the consequences of my own actions.

The tab broke off on my can, and I couldn't find a can opener. Should I sue????

If someone can sue for things like this, the tractor driver in the above "poor safety and tractor driving skills" should be able to sue J. Deere for the slapping the bush gave him.

Personal responsibility works both ways... In that instance why would McD's keep coffee at 190 deg? You can't drink it that hot. That temp is a full 10 deg above the minimum mandated in Haccp protocols for ~cleaning~ sanitary equipment, never mind a reasonable operating temperature.
I think most of us have spilled drinks in our laps in a vehicle. You sell something at a drive-thru that is a foreseeable result... In knowing that, turn the temperature down on the machine since there's no need of it being that hot to begin with. I've had stuff so hot it melted the glue out of the cup and had spills because of that...

Rod

The lawsuit sounds frivolous... but so does the behaviour of the restaurant. That's most often what invokes these stupid things... poor behaviour on both sides.

Rod

It's illegal to file a frivolous lawsuit but has any lawyer or client ever been charged with doing so? That's the buddy system at work. Then you fill the jury with folks who believe everyone owes them something so you'll hit it big - brilliant! To sue anyone when harm wasn't intentional or even their fault is frivoluous and just wrong.

We are all responsible for our own actions so the consequenses are ours to own as well. JMO

like "larry the cable guy says" can you sue hustler for carple tunnel...lol

I agree.

In 1987, I got food poisoning from eating at a McDonalds in Fort Morgan, Colorado. Haven't been in one since.

(I later worked with a fellow from Colorado who had eaten at the same place. He said the food there always did have a slightly different flavor than other McDonalds. Local water, maybe?)

You know the funny thing about that story.....in the breakdown of what the money was for he never mentioned the cost of buying another pair of pants lol. Its a-pair-of pants. How would a person face the rest of the world when you prove to someone with lawsuits as such that you are that type of a person. It just seems silly doesn't it? I hope it wasn't from "Jeffersons cleaners" or they may have to move on out of the east side...lol.

Yep,
Last month I had a chicken sandwich from a local eatery. I burned my tongue on it. I should have asked if I could have had the meal for free.......But I manned up and paid for it myself. My tongue hurt for a day or so, but I was okay.
Suing for $640,000 and have skin graffs.......I almost want to get my leg burned and get enough to retire on.

UD, it's wonderful you have cupholders in your vehicle. Many of the vehicles I've owned over the past forty years haven't been as lavishly equipped as your mommy-van.

You might be surprised to know that I fully agree that individuals should be responsible for the consquences of their own actions. Where we part ways is that you don't seem to think multinational corporations should be held to a similar standard.

(quoted from post at 11:14:00 03/01/14) Personal responsibility works both ways... In that instance why would McD's keep coffee at 190 deg? You can't drink it that hot. That temp is a full 10 deg above the minimum mandated in Haccp protocols for ~cleaning~ sanitary equipment, never mind a reasonable operating temperature.

Click to expand...

This comes up every time and the answer is the same every time.... McDonalds had complaints for years about coffee being too cold and they raised the temp. More complaints about cold coffee so the temp was raised. Finally few enough complaints that an equilibrium was meet. McDonalds only did what any reasonable company would do... or should do, keeping customers happy. McDonalds cant, and shouldnt, change its rules just because a person is unable to control a cup of coffee (remember, Stells dumped it on herself in the parking lot because her sons car didnt have a cup holder... shouldnt she also be sueing the car maker?). Wouldnt refusing to sell the coffee to an almost 80 year old woman be considered discrimination (she clearly demonstrated that she could handle a cup of coffee). Would it be reasonable for employees of McDonalds to search and grade every car that comes through to see if it has proper cup holders? The list can go on and on but the fact remains, McDonalds did do what is reasonable, Stella dumped it on herself and was looking to cash in on the lawsuit lottery.

(quoted from post at 11:14:00 03/01/14)I think most of us have spilled drinks in our laps in a vehicle. You sell something at a drive-thru that is a foreseeable result... In knowing that, turn the temperature down on the machine since there's no need of it being that hot to begin with. I've had stuff so hot it melted the glue out of the cup and had spills because of that...

Rod

Click to expand...

I have never spilled anything in my lap, but maybe Im doing it wrong? And Im not sure where you got your "foreseeable" information from but it wasnt from McDonalds or any other fast food restaurant that sells coffee to go, because if you did, you would have learned that people tend to let the coffee sit [b:78f54badd1][i:78f54badd1]longer[/i:78f54badd1][/b:78f54badd1] when driving than when when a person buys a coffee and drinks it in the seating area.

I posted it before, and will post it again.

When George H.W. Bush was president and Dan Quayle was vice president, Quayle was invited by the American Bar Association to speak at some Washington luncheon, and he did. As he stood at the podium, he spoke of such lawsuits, pointing out how they are driving prices on everything through the roof. He pointed out at the time that in Japan, there was an estimated 1 attorney for every 50,000 people, and here in America, there was 1 attorney for every 2,500 people. He pretty much said or suggested that a major problem in and with our nation, are lawyers and these kinds of frivelous lawsuits.

I'm not saying or suggesting that Quayle was a good or bad guy, but I had to give him credit for going into a lions den and slapping the lions in the face and taking the meat out of their mouths and walking away.

Hey, remember those Miller-Lite beer commercials, "What if you combined..." and took two unrelated things and combined them? Had one where, "What if you combined lawyers and calf roping?", had the calf gate open and an attorney in his 3-piece suit running out for his life, clutching his attache' case as a rodeo cowboy moved in with the lasso to calf rope him? Miiler dropped that one after a lawyer or lawyers threatened to sue, saying the commercial could give someone an idea to...

Mark

There you go Mark. Sue the vehicle maker for not putting a cup holder in the vehicle.

(quoted from post at 07:23:31 03/01/14) UD, are you trying to say you've never dumped a cup of hot coffee in your lap? You've lived a charmed life, then. I know I've done it more than once, but fortunately it was never scalding hot.

Click to expand...

Mark the thing of it is if you put a crushable cup between your legs you have to accept the responsibilities of your actions. If you buy a cup of coffee and can't figure out it's hot and that cup between your legs can crush then maybe you shouldn't buy a cup of coffee.

Rick

I've read many articles about, and understand the underlying issues in the hot coffee lawsuit, and to a degree, you are correct in the fact the woman had somewhat of a legitimate complaint. On the other hand McDonalds also had a legitimate defense in that their coffee was kept a the temp it was to keep millions of other customers happy, who actually preffered their coffee hot enough to stay that way until they got to drink it, and didn't spill it in their laps. Too there is/was not at the time, any actual industry standard that they were required to meet, and there were also several other companies that kept their product at a similar temp for the same reasons. In this case it was just the first time, at least that I know of, that someone had actually succeeded with a lawsuit, with such a HUGE settlement ordered, over something that was caused by the supposed negligence of both parties involved. In other words the jury found McDonalds was negligent because they kept the coffee hot enough to satisfy millions but too hot to satisfy the lady who, through her own actions, burned herself on it. I wonder what would have happened if she had boiled water at home and spilled it on herself because she lost the grip on the pot she had it in. Would the pot mfg have been liable because their handle was too slick for the lady to hold on to, even though it was used every day by millions of other folks with absolutely no problems??????? Slightly different situation, but the same, basic issues at hand....think about it......Too, I wonder how many on the jury went through McDonalds, or some other drive through, on their way to the courthouse the days the trial was in session and then complained about their coffee being cold 15 minute later when they finally got around to drinking it??????

That said, even if the guy had been denied an extra napkin or two, what kind of person experiences so much mental anguish over something like that to warrant a 1.5 million dollar lawsuit? Seriously, I suffered pain and 'mental anguish' ((I just called it having to deal with idiots, but to others it must have really been anguish, but I had to deal with that part with the stupid insurance people for over a year) when I had a guy hit me head on and totaled my truck years ago. Because I was lucky enough to not get injured beyond a bruised chest from my seat belt, and a slightly sore neck, they felt that I didn't deserve any kind of compensation beyond them paying the hospital bills for me to get checked out and to be told I would be sore for a week or so. Then there was the year long fight over them giving me enough money to replace my pickup with another like it that I just about broke even on simply because I had another vehicle to drive and was in no hurry to settle for a lesser amount. Seems like I should have been able to sue both the other driver, and his insurance company over an incident that actually did cause me injury and a financial loss, due to no action of my own other than being on a public road in the middle of the day......but no lawyer I talked to, in an attempt to just break even over the incident, would even touch the case because I wasn't 'seriously injured'.....I lost a perfectly good truck because of some idiot breaking the law, speeding and reckless driving, and had absolutely no recourse but to hold out and almost break even, but this guy was able to find a lawyer to sue for 1.5 million because he didn't get an extra napkin........THAT'S JUST PLAIN STUPID..... and anyone who would think to do that, or a lawyer that would take the case must have some serious issues, beyond just a napkin........

[i:654c4848f0]"Many of the vehicles I've owned over the past forty years haven't been as lavishly equipped as your mommy-van."[/i:654c4848f0]

??

Any time you ask for one - from 30+ years ago till even today McDonalds would give you a throwaway, cardboard cupholder that you could put on the seat.
There really isn't a need to hold coffee between your legs.
Never was.

"Personal responsibility works both ways"-----"You sell something at a drive-thru that is a foreseeable result." OK, so, You PURCHASE something at a drive-thru you know the foreseeable result, and should be smart enough to anticipate such, thereby motivating you to take precautionary action. ie; DON'T PUT THE DAMN STUFF BETWEEN YOUR LEGS! I will concede that 190deg. is somewhat excessive, but as Wayne pointed out, you purchase coffee at a drive-thru, you may not be able to drink it for a few minutes, and few people like lukewarm coffee.
I found, years ago, that, while it calls for a certain amount of dexterity, one can hold a cup of coffee, steer a truck and shift gears at the same time. (If I didn't have one of hose cardboard cup holders, which I tried to keep.)

The tab broke off on a can of soup the other night. The can-opener wouldn't work on it so I hit the top of the can with the opener to break it loose enough to slide a knife in. Ended up washing the counter and my face.

You want 3rd degree burns to your CROTCH? You could sue for 100 million but I really doubt 3rd degree burns to your privates is worth any amount of money!

This really isn't a difficult concept.... if you go through a drive thru and get a coffee... it is a very foreseeable outcome that at some point in time ~someone~ is going to spill their coffee. It would seem logical to me that it not be so hot it causes burns. I've spilled coffee on the floor, on my lap, had them tip out of the cup holder onto my leg, had them slip from my hand, etc. While some of them have been uncomfortable, none have ever burned me. That would owe to the fact that the stuff I drink from Tims or Robins is probably more like 165 deg rather than 190 deg... and even that's still too hot to drink most of the time. So mabey if McD's had 'complaints' about cold coffee.... they should have dealt with inconsistiencies in their product rather than boiling the hell out of it on everyone else.

Rod

(quoted from post at 18:32:24 03/02/14) This really isn't a difficult concept.... if you go through a drive thru and get a coffee... it is a very foreseeable outcome that at some point in time ~someone~ is going to spill their coffee. It would seem logical to me that it not be so hot it causes burns. I've spilled coffee on the floor, on my lap, had them tip out of the cup holder onto my leg, had them slip from my hand, etc. While some of them have been uncomfortable, none have ever burned me. That would owe to the fact that the stuff I drink from Tims or Robins is probably more like 165 deg rather than 190 deg... and even that's still too hot to drink most of the time. So mabey if McD's had 'complaints' about cold coffee.... they should have dealt with inconsistiencies in their product rather than boiling the hell out of it on everyone else.

Rod

Click to expand...

Nope not difficult at all. Order a hot beverage at a drive through, be stupid enough to not know a hot beverage is, you got it HOT. Be stupid enough to place hot beverage between legs and when (and it is a case of when, not this time maybe and maybe not the next) but when you get burned blame the restaurant. Then find a shyster lawyer and sue. Gee, sounds reasonable to me.

Rick

...

(quoted from post at 05:30:26 03/01/14) The currant Readers Digest has a couple of pages on the coffee law suite. It is worth the effort to find and read.
No slam intended, just the facts of the case.

Click to expand...

http://www.rd.com/culture/hot-coffee-lawsuit/