The McDonald's Lawsuit

On February 2,1994, Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, bought a $0.49 cup of coffee from the drive thru window at McDonald's. She was the passenger in the car, and her grandson Chris was driving. He parked the car, so that Stella could fix her coffee to her liking by adding cream and sugar. She put the coffee between her legs, so she could get the lid off. When she tried to pull the lid off, the whole cup of coffee spilled all over her lap. The coffee burned her skin, so then she sued the McDonald's restaurant. 

Who's really to blame? Well, its still really undecided. I do have an opinion. It is partially Stella Liebeck's fault because she wasn't being careful and spilled it. McDonald's is also to blame because their coffee shouldn't be hot enough to burn someone. That would be like if you went to a hotel, and you decided to take a shower. You turn the hot water on all the way, and the water is so hot that it burns you. It seems that that is hotel's fault, more then it is yours. This case is similar to a situation like that. It  could have really went either way. The decision was made in August of 1994. Stella Liebeck ended up to win the case because it was said that it was 20% her fault, and 80% McDonald's fault. She then was awarded $600,000 in punitive damages. 

Some people don't believe this was the right decision, but I don't know. It seems right, but not right at the same time. It was one of those cases that could have went either way.