"This woman dumps coffee in her own lap while driving her car and gets burned, sues McDonald's for $5 million and wins"
That's the way I heard it. I thought it was a myth, or if true a frivolous lawsuit and a miscarriage of justice.
Just today, though, I remembered my grandma's blue legs.
When she was young (12 or so) my grandma dumped a pot of boiling water on herself. She was wearing a long blue (denim, I think) skirt. She got third degree burns and now, over 50 years later, her legs are still blue from the dye.
So, I think, maybe it's not so frivolous and I look it up.
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm
Facts:
The woman was 79 years old.
She was not driving the car.
A vascular surgeon determined that Liebeck suffered full thickness burns (or third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body, including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she underwent skin grafting.
During discovery, McDonalds produced documents showing more than 700
claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992. Some claims
involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebecks.
McDonalds also said during discovery that, based on a consultants
advice, it held its coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees fahrenheit to maintain optimum taste.
Liebeck, who also underwent debridement
treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds
refused.
The jury also awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in
punitive damages, which equals about two days of McDonalds' coffee
sales.
The trial court subsequently reduced the punitive award to $480,000 .
The parties eventually entered into a secret settlement which has never been revealed to the public.