On February 27, 1992, Stella Liebeck ordered a cup of coffee from a McDonold's. She was a 79-year-old woman from Albuquerque, New Mexico. As she sat in her the passenger seat of her grandson's car, he pulled over so she could add cream and sugar to her drink. While attempting to open the lid of the coffee, between her knees (because the car had no cup holders) Liebeck the entire cup of coffee on herself and into her lap! Her cotton sweatpants absorbed the coffee (180-190 degrees, hot) against her skin, causing third-degree burns on 6% of her skin and lesser burns on over 16%. She was admitted into the hospital and remained there for 8 days until she underwent skin grafting. Liebeck wanted to settle with McDonald's for $20,000 to cover her medical expenses. but the company offered only $800. After their refusal, she decided to hire Texas attorney Reed Morgan. "Morgan filed a suit in New Mexico District Court accusing McDonald's of "gross negligence" for selling coffee that was "unreasonably dangerous" and "defectively manufactured"." (Wikipedia, Liebeck v. McDonold's Restaurants)
McDononld's refused Morgan's offer to settle for $90,000 and then Morgan offered to settle for $300,000. McDonald's also refused to settle out of court for $225,000.
During trial, media made Stella look like an embarrassment. Facts were lost as she was constantly made fun of and misunderstood. There was even an award ceremony named after her called the Stella Awards, which awarded people with the most outrageous lawsuit claims. "The real story is more traumatic and less lucrative than the media made it out to be." (Business Insider, How A $2.9 Million Jury Verdict Over Spilled Coffee Became America's Most Misunderstood Story)
The jury found Mrs. Liebeck to be 20% at fault for her injuries, reducing the compensation for her injuries. The jury’s punitive damages award of $2.7 million made headlines, though it was later decreased to $600,000. Mrs. Liebeck and McDonald’s later reached a confidential settlement. "McDonald’s admitted it did not warn customers of the nature and extent of this risk and could offer no explanation as to why it did not." (Caoc.org, The McDonold's Hot Coffee Case) Now, all McDonold's coffee comes with warning labels and reduced temperatures.
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