Some Silled CoffeeHave you ever heard of the Liebeck vs MacDonalds Restaurants case? Well if you have not, then why not be informed? Stella Liebeck a 75 year old woman, native of New Mexico was severely burnt by spilled coffee in her nephews car after buying it from Macdonalds. She instantaneously suffered from third degree burns and later sued MacDonalds. As a result of suing, Stella was badly made fun of by society, because the media has turned and twisted the story for their own profitable gain. This speech is presented, because it is quite an interest for my business law class and I am prepared to speak about the facts. Therefore, we are going to take a factual perspective on Stellas case which includes: why Stella sued, how was MacDonalds accountable and how much damages (money) Stella really got.
Stella Liebeck sued MacDonalds because she spilled hot coffee on herself in a stationed vehicle in the MacDonalds parking lot. Subsequently, she formed a lawsuit against MacDonalds because she spent over 8 days in the hospital with third degree burns to her inner thigh, buttocks, perineum, genitalia and groin areas, which compromised 6% of her whole body (George, 2012) . As a result, Stella had to undergo a very expensive and intensive skin grafting procedure. Not only was she physically hurt, but she was also suffering mentally and emotionally from her scars and unfortunate ordeal. After all, she was an old woman who was not prepared to be hospitalized after drinking coffee resulting in horrible scars for life. It is true, Stella was partly wrong in spilling hot coffee on herself and was not careful, but accidents do happen. The media has taken the case to another level and has made a mockery out of Stella by calling her case frivolous and outlandish. Essentially, the media has failed to understand and present the factual information concerning the case, henceforth, Stella was not to be blamed entirely.
MacDonalds was not an innocent bystander as portrayed by the media; essentially they had to be sued. In the case of MacDonalds, they were were more at fault with concrete evidence of how they could have prevented the incident. Facts have shown that MacDonalds had received over 700 burn reports in the past before the occurrence of Stellas incident. MacDonalds has been serving coffee between 180-190 degree Fahrenheit (scorching hot). According to them, this method was to establish the coffees maximum taste (Jackson, 2008). In this case, MacDonalds has been very negligent, because they continued to serve super hot coffee to customers knowing that many of them buy and consume coffee on the go; furthermore, they have ignored the ever-increasing burn reports. Not only have they ignored burn reports, but they have also maintained their high brewing/serving coffee instructions. In this situation MacDonalds was wholly at fault.
The Cooks Cooks have been extremely concerned to the point of making some of their own statement about the burn reports in McDonald’s. As one of its most knowledgeable and most respected staff members, Kathy Cook, noted in the beginning that it was her experience that the “people of Florida and that state would be disappointed.” Kathy Cook’s comments are still going strong even now that she was promoted to senior counselor. Kathy Cook and the Cooks also continue to work hard to make any public comments that support their decision, as soon as they hear the media. For example, when Kathy Cook wrote:
Well, the fact is, we know the stories of the others, and they are just like we. We know who, what, when, when and where to get hot coffee. We know where to go and what to do and what to avoid. I’ve seen some people who will tell you, “Well, this is bad, this is bad, and I’ve never made up a story before.” And that is wrong, at best, and at worst, is making up a bunch of “wrong” stories that are being presented at parties and with the wrong people. When I’m at a business event and I’m telling people, “We’re going nuts” and I’m telling people what to do or what not to do, I’m just telling them things that you might not realize. One of the things they have that they probably will not realize is some of the best ideas, stories, and insights of this history and this culture exist in such a different environment from our world and our lifestyles.
Well, here is a quote from the Cooks on the matter:
I think you could think of it as “how many people had to eat the chocolate, what to do, what to hide, what to do and how much to drink” for them, but then you’re not going to need nearly as much. You also have to go out and get some chocolate, then we can get some ice cream. I’ve been eating the chocolate since I was 18. My mom used to come in all the time and she was kind of like, “Oh my gosh, what are you doing, you have to wear it. But don’t you have to do something about it.” She looked at me and said—but no, we had to get some chocolate to get to the bar or anything like that. She’d say, “Oh my gosh, what can we do about all this? There’s not enough cacao so you don’t eat it. Let’s go to the store and get some ice cream, let’s go to the bar and get back to New York.”
Let’s say this, the actual thing going on is actually just another lie, and that’s what we have to figure out, right? How is it possible that a cook in their own kitchen has taken in as much candy as they can while keeping the same exact ingredients? How can we keep them all the same when they are cooking for the same food without their knowledge? So then you have to figure out just what kind of behavior this is.
According to Kathy Cook and the Cooks who believe that these “crunchy Cook’s” are guilty of trying to hide from the public what is not right or wrong, or are having any kind of “outrageous behavior,” McDonalds is just like any other food company.
The fact that the world has changed since we were children shows just how much of a burden these companies are in today’s economic life. The food companies are about to do an all-out comeback. McDonalds does not have