Ridiculous Lawsuits

kittkatt · Sep 7, 2007

We've probably all heard the one about the lady who sued McDonald's after she got burned by spilling their coffee all over herself b/c she was foolish enough to set the cup between her legs while she was in the car.

Do you know of anyone personally (i.e., friends, family, neighbors) who tried to sue for something as ridiculous as the McDonald's lady?

I have one: I'll start....

There was a neighbor where I used to live, who had a bolt of lightening hit the roof of her house, which started a fire. The fire department came to put out the fire, and in order to get close enough to the roof, they had to drive up onto the lawn to do so. Because of the rain, the ground was soggy, and the weight of the fire engine put ruts in the lady's lawn.....

She tried to sue the fire department for putting the ruts in her lawn...

Any of y'all have any stories to share??

KittKatt

tigerontheprowl · Sep 7, 2007

Well there's always the music-induced swearing lawsuit. My aunt tried to sue the band System of a Down because her 8 year-old son called her a S.O.B. and she thought he learned it from that band.

starryeyedtiger · Sep 7, 2007

no, i try not to hang out with anyone that stupid

peter · Sep 7, 2007

Nope, Not personally, and I hope I never will.

rosiemac · Sep 7, 2007

Yes, i've got several co workers but i can't mention them with this being a public forum and if they see their name they'd probably sue me!

But all i can say is they'd do anything for some money!

snowmeow9 · Sep 7, 2007

I don't have a story, but the McDonald's case wasn't a spurious lawsuit. Yes, the lady shouldn't have placed the coffee between her legs, but the damages were mitigated because of that. The woman suffered severe burns - third degree - and was in the hospital for a week. She initially just wanted them to pay the hospital bills, and they refused. McDonald's had been informed, repeatedly, that they were serving their coffee at FAR too hot a temperature (20 degrees higher than other restaurants) and that it was dangerous (they'd settled over 700 burn incidents over the previous decade). McDonald's CHOSE to do nothing about it. The high damages award was to punish the company for such reckless behaviour, not to "reward" the woman.

There are tons of silly, stupid lawsuits out there - but this isn't one of them.

kittkatt · Sep 14, 2007

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

Yes, i've got several co workers but i can't mention them with this being a public forum and if they see their name they'd probably sue me!

But all i can say is they'd do anything for some money!

I've known a few people like that myself.

I try not to associate w/ them if at all possible!

~KK~

kittkatt · Sep 14, 2007

Originally Posted by snowmeow9

I don't have a story, but the McDonald's case wasn't a spurious lawsuit. Yes, the lady shouldn't have placed the coffee between her legs, but the damages were mitigated because of that. The woman suffered severe burns - third degree - and was in the hospital for a week. She initially just wanted them to pay the hospital bills, and they refused. McDonald's had been informed, repeatedly, that they were serving their coffee at FAR too hot a temperature (20 degrees higher than other restaurants) and that it was dangerous (they'd settled over 700 burn incidents over the previous decade). McDonald's CHOSE to do nothing about it. The high damages award was to punish the company for such reckless behaviour, not to "reward" the woman.

There are tons of silly, stupid lawsuits out there - but this isn't one of them.

This was something I wasn't aware of.

Thanks for pointing it out!

There are a lot of big corporations out there that think they can "buy" people off (heck, I used to work for one of them!) so I'm aware of what you're referring to. And I agree: the woman was foolish for not thinking, but if McDonald's was already forewarned and did nothing about it, the woman deserved something for her pain & suffering....

~KK~

katiemae1277 · Sep 14, 2007

I don't know anyone personally, but I've heard enough of those burglar suing the people they robbed stories to make me sick!

gingersmom · Sep 14, 2007

Originally Posted by snowmeow9

I don't have a story, but the McDonald's case wasn't a spurious lawsuit. Yes, the lady shouldn't have placed the coffee between her legs, but the damages were mitigated because of that. The woman suffered severe burns - third degree - and was in the hospital for a week. She initially just wanted them to pay the hospital bills, and they refused. McDonald's had been informed, repeatedly, that they were serving their coffee at FAR too hot a temperature (20 degrees higher than other restaurants) and that it was dangerous (they'd settled over 700 burn incidents over the previous decade). McDonald's CHOSE to do nothing about it. The high damages award was to punish the company for such reckless behaviour, not to "reward" the woman.

There are tons of silly, stupid lawsuits out there - but this isn't one of them.

I disagree 100%. McDonalds did not place the coffee between the woman's legs. SHE did it. She wasn't forced to buy the coffee. She CHOSE to buy it then she CHOSE to put it between her legs, which is completely stupid - how can you drive with a hot drink stuffed between your legs?!

I'm sick and tired of people not taking responsibility for their own actions.

Hot coffee is HOT. You don't buy it expecting it to be ANYTHING other than hot, period.

This particular lawsuit heads up the list of frivilous lawsuits. Humans are SO stupid.

cdubbie · Sep 14, 2007

I saw the photos of the burns that lady got from the McDonald's coffee - it was HORRIBLE! It is v. easy to spill on yourself, if you are one to think she was foolish to put it between her legs...meaning, you could spill at anytime and have a severe outcome.

Also in that case - the judge told the jury to make an example out of this case - so they came back with a ridiculous award.

yosemite · Sep 14, 2007

Originally Posted by GingersMom

I disagree 100%. McDonalds did not place the coffee between the woman's legs. SHE did it. She wasn't forced to buy the coffee. She CHOSE to buy it then she CHOSE to put it between her legs, which is completely stupid - how can you drive with a hot drink stuffed between your legs?!

I'm sick and tired of people not taking responsibility for their own actions.

Hot coffee is HOT. You don't buy it expecting it to be ANYTHING other than hot, period.

This particular lawsuit heads up the list of frivilous lawsuits. Humans are SO stupid.

I agree with you. I'm so tired of hearing about people out to make a fast buck suing someone. You are right - nobody held a gun to her head to make her buy the coffee and certainly McDonald's didn't suggest she put it between her legs.

IMO, if you want a coffee, stop and have one. IMO trying to drink hot coffee while driving is equivalent to trying to put on makeups, using cell phones. Heck, the next thing you know they'll be trying to make the kids' lunches while driving and sue the supermarket for not selling the buns pre-cut.

The only way she should have received anything was if she was deemed mentally incompetent (for putting the hot coffee there in the first place), in which case she should not have been operating a vehicle.

lunasmom · Sep 14, 2007

I agree too...whether it was 20 degrees more than other places wouldn't have made the difference when she placed it between her legs. Hot is hot.

As for other lawsuits, no...I try not to associate myself with those people.

clairebear · Sep 14, 2007

Originally Posted by snowmeow9

I don't have a story, but the McDonald's case wasn't a spurious lawsuit. Yes, the lady shouldn't have placed the coffee between her legs, but the damages were mitigated because of that. The woman suffered severe burns - third degree - and was in the hospital for a week. She initially just wanted them to pay the hospital bills, and they refused. McDonald's had been informed, repeatedly, that they were serving their coffee at FAR too hot a temperature (20 degrees higher than other restaurants) and that it was dangerous (they'd settled over 700 burn incidents over the previous decade). McDonald's CHOSE to do nothing about it. The high damages award was to punish the company for such reckless behaviour, not to "reward" the woman.

There are tons of silly, stupid lawsuits out there - but this isn't one of them.

I still think that's stupid. Because regardless of how hot they served it, she should have had the common sense to put it in the cup holder and not between her legs. Obviously if you put a full cup there, when you stop or start abruptly or even turn a corner it is going to spill. If I was the judge I wouldn't have awarded her anything.

cairo · Sep 14, 2007

Originally Posted by GingersMom

I disagree 100%. McDonalds did not place the coffee between the woman's legs. SHE did it. She wasn't forced to buy the coffee. She CHOSE to buy it then she CHOSE to put it between her legs, which is completely stupid - how can you drive with a hot drink stuffed between your legs?!

I'm sick and tired of people not taking responsibility for their own actions.

Hot coffee is HOT. You don't buy it expecting it to be ANYTHING other than hot, period.

This particular lawsuit heads up the list of frivilous lawsuits. Humans are SO stupid.

I agree with you on this one. When I order coffee, I want it hot. I've burnt myself on coffee before, and it was because I was careless. And about the burn wounds on her thigh being horrible, yes, the skin on your thigh is incredibly tender! It's gonna look a lot worse than say a burn on your fingertips, trust me, been there done that. Some people just don't have common sense, lets not reward them for it.

Another frivolous lawsuit I saw was when a temp who was doing a short gig for us tried to sue us for hostile work environment. Why? Because the temp cube we gave her to work in was too cold for her. She wore skimpy t-shirts to work, and never bothered to try a sweater.

I tried to be nice so I moved her around a couple times to see if there was an improvement. She didn't even work, every time I checked on her she kept saying it was too cold. So I moved her into a mini-conference room on an empty side of the floor. She stopped complaining about the temerature, but still she did less than 15-minutes worth of work each day. I got fed up, and called the agency to replace her.

In her complaint, she said I isolated her away from everyone because I was angry at her for complaining about the

temperature!

Nothing ever came of it, but I laughed so hard later on when I got a call from another company doing a background check on her. I figured I wasn't allowed to talk about her claim, so when they asked about her work, all I could reply was "What work?"

There are many more...

mom of 4 · Sep 14, 2007

The woman in the McDonald's suit should have been ticketed for inattentive driving.

Years ago, my husband worked at a small car dealership. A couple decided to test drive a new car - a 5 speed. The husband started the car up as the wife was putting one of her legs in - the car lurched forward and the woman fell to the ground. She injured her hip and had a seizure. They sued the dealership and the manufacturer.
And the car they drove to the dealership was a 4 speed.
The wife had a history of seizures - and not taking her meds.
Twenty years later, I'm still mad they got any money.

Ridiculous Lawsuits

kittkatt

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tigerontheprowl

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starryeyedtiger

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peter

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rosiemac

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snowmeow9

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kittkatt

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kittkatt

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katiemae1277

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gingersmom

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cdubbie

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yosemite

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lunasmom

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clairebear

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cairo

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mom of 4

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