Liebeck v.

McDonalds Restaurants, Case Brief

9/21/16

Case Brief

Liebeck v. McDonalds Restaurants, P.T.S., Inc. (New Mexico District Court, 1994)

Facts
The plaintiff, 79-year old Stella Liebeck (passenger) in Albuquerque, NM visited McDonalds
drive-through with her grandson (the driver). She had ordered coffee with cream and sugar, but
the cream and sugar comes in a bag and you have to add it in yourself. So they pulled over into
a parking spot so she could add in the cream and sugar. But when she put the coffee between
her legs and popped the top off, it spilled all over her lap and she suffered third-degree burns.
They immediately escorted her to the emergency room where was hospitalized for about 7-8
days and had medical bills of about $10,000. Her daughter then decided it was the right thing to
do to contact McDonalds and ask them to pay for it. They asked for $20,000 to settle the case,
but McDonalds offered $800! Stella refused, and sued McDonalds in court for negligence for
selling coffee that was clearly way too hot and failing to warn her of the danger of such
extremely hot coffee. Apparently it was McDonalds policy that they keep the coffee at 185
degrees Fahrenheit, whereas the coffee we make at home is around 135-140 degrees
Fahrenheit. McDonalds was aware of how hot they were serving their coffee and they did
nothing about it. McDonalds representatives lied to the court and jury about being aware of
other existing claims, but documents showed that they knew of over 700 claims by other
people who received burns from the coffee.

Issue
Was McDonalds responsible for negligence in knowingly serving coffee that was too hot and
not properly warning its customers?

Decision/Ruling
The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages, but then reduced that amount
to $160,000 because they found her to be 20% at fault for her injuries. The jury also awarded
her $2.7 million in punitive damages, but that was reduced by the judge to $480,000. Yet still, it
is still not official to the public how much Liebeck was rewarded in total at the end of the case.
Reasons/Rationale
McDonalds was undeniably negligent in this case. They knew they were serving coffee hot
enough to cause third-degree burns in as little as 2-7 seconds of contact with the skin, and they
had received hundreds of claims from customers, yet they still refused to lower the holding
temperature of their coffee. I personally think that is outrageous. Customers want to drink the
coffee as soon as they are handed it, but at those temperatures it could cause burns to the
mouth and throat. I say that if McDonalds was aware of such consequences of the high
temperature of their coffee, that they should have at least been warning the customers. Also, it
was mentioned in a video I watched, with Stella Liebeck herself, that the doctors even
questioned whether she was going to live through her injuries. Due to that, I think if she was
awarded around $640,000 that she didnt receive enough. But it is still not public how much she
was rewarded in the end.