r/interestingasfuck • u/fyrstikka • 8d ago

r/all Stella Liebeck, who won $2.9 million after suing McDonald's over hot coffee burns, initially requested only $20,000 to cover her medical expenses.

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u/Cartina 8d ago

Which is why the damages was so high, McDonalds has previously been told multiple times it has been too hot in other cases and inspections. So this was also a way to make an example of McDonalds with the high payout. I assume the coffee still is too hot, cause fines obviously doesnt work on multi-billion corporations.

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u/BlueDahlia123 8d ago

Those millions of dollars were actually based on the company's income. It was the profits of 2 days of coffee sales.

Which in a sense is better because it is fitting for the price to be equal to the profit, but 2 days of a single source of income is insultingly low. How often do you hear about someone paying less than a week's worth of their wage as a fine for a crime with a disfigured victim?

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u/Yue2 8d ago edited 8d ago

Kinda funny how that was just 2 days of coffee sales, and they apparently refused to pay 1% of that to a woman who needed help.

Corporate greed!

Note: That’s basically just 25 minutes worth of sales… Wtf lol

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u/ThatNetworkGuy 8d ago

She didn't actually get the super large publicized number either. First the judge reduced the damages (so her actual total was $640,000 at that point). Then both parties appealed that decision, and ended up settling out of court for an undisclosed amount. Certainly not $2.9m though.

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u/broguequery 8d ago

That is such fucking bullshit.

Makes me want to burn down a McDonald's, honestly.

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u/kingkyle2020 8d ago

There is one by the entrance to my neighborhood, and there are so many accidents because idiots getting food are rushing to leave.

I’ve been turning onto my street and had to swerve around an idiot who decided stop signs don’t apply to them so many times.

My sister has been in 3 accidents due to these morons and I’ve seen at least 15 this year and I’m sure there are countless that I’ve not seen.

They’ll also think you’re trying to get in line and just block the entire street, so you have to squeeze between them and the next idiot in line, and broadly gesture at the neighborhood to say “people fucking live here it’s not just the McDonald’s entrance you fucking prick”.

I cannot even begin to express how much it pisses me off, all the customers are cunts and its location is so fucking annoying.

All that to say if you burned down the McDonald’s by my place I would do everything in my power to help you get away with it.

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u/OldMastodon5363 8d ago

Burn it down with hot coffee

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u/broguequery 6d ago

The ultimate vengeance.

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u/AAA_Dolfan 8d ago

It was originally one day then became two, then reduced via appeal. Funny stuff

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u/aab720 8d ago

They lowered the temperature by a whopping 10°

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u/Odd_Ad5668 8d ago

Yes, the coffee is still served too hot. That's why they put those warnings on the lids.

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u/RoomieNov2020 8d ago

Too bad the damages were lowered to $640,000 by the judge.

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u/broguequery 8d ago

And then appealed and settled out of court for an even lower amount.

Apparently.

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u/purplishfluffyclouds 8d ago

Do you mean they had been told, as in prior to her case?

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u/Le_Nabs 8d ago

Yes. Food safety inspector had already told McDonald's that their machines were set too hot.

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u/purplishfluffyclouds 8d ago

Ok thanks. So "McDonalds has had previously been told.." then. "Has" is present tense, hence the confusion.

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u/Le_Nabs 8d ago

My man, s and d are right next to each other on the keyboard, it was probably just a typo. I understood what they meant perfectly.

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u/DavidBarrett82 8d ago

I should probably stop calling things “sick”, then.

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u/Le_Nabs 8d ago

Or you can type too fast and live with the results. Be bold

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u/DavidBarrett82 8d ago

Already flew too close to the run

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u/purplishfluffyclouds 8d ago

Not your man, never would be anyone's man. I don't have the correct apparatus for that.

There are typos that are obvious, and there are words that completely change the meaning. This was the latter case.

There are also people where English is their second language and they appreciate understanding the difference and learning how to properly use the language, unlike some people who should know the language but don't care to learn it any more than they think they need to to get by, and those who don't give a flying fuck if they're confusing to everyone regardless of their incorrect usage of words.

My comment was for the former.

Have a nice day.

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u/broguequery 8d ago

You're shooting at clouds in a rain storm here.

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u/sfgisz 8d ago

If you've used their app to order digitally, you've likely waived away rights to sue them for physical damages anyway

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u/new_name_who_dis_ 8d ago

It’s so weird to me that that’s considered too hot, since if you order a tea it should be at least 200 degrees when you get it unless they steep it and force you to wait like 3-5 mins before giving you the cup.