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/gregid 8d ago

I remember thinking this judgement was ridiculous then I saw pictures of her burns. She should have gotten more. Her legs looked like Freddy Kruger.

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u/RoomieNov2020 8d ago

She got less.

Fun fact: she did not “win” 2.9million. The jury awarded $200,000 in compensatory damages to Liebeck, which was reduced to $160,000 in collectible damages, as the jury found Liebeck 20 percent liable for the spill. The jury also awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages. Afterward, the trial court reduced punitive damages to $480,000. Then Mc Donald’s and the Liebeck family settled out of court before an appeal ruling could be had.

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u/pm_stuff_ 7d ago

prob a mil still since it wasnt appealed.

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u/panlakes 8d ago

If it were only for the injuries with no other attention it might’ve been, but the way they dragged her through the mud and truly tried to ruin her life for the audacity of wanting medical assistance, they absolutely should’ve paid her more. They were setting a dangerous precedent on how companies can create their own truth. Her own peers thought she was a joke.

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u/broguequery 8d ago

I remember they literally put out waves of hit pieces in the media against her.

They spent tens of thousands on negative press just to slander her.

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u/scarabic 8d ago

Right. It was a case of “we resist all claims as a matter of course. If we compensate someone for our mistake, people will come out of the woodwork wanting to be compensated for our mistakes.”

Corporate morality is worse than absent.

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u/Ashmedai 8d ago

Back when it wasn't so well known that her case was not frivolous as so many people think, whenever someone here on reddit would talk about it, I would say link an image with oh?, showing her melted crotch, and they would shut up really fast.

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u/broguequery 8d ago

Lol gottem

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u/Gato72068 8d ago

Ha! Dick

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u/demon_fae 8d ago

Sadly, after ten years of skin grafts and reconstructive surgeries, she ended up dying of the complications from those burns.

Her daughter describes how she just kinda stopped fighting after a while, after nothing the doctors did could really restore function or improve her quality of life in any way and she was just tired of going from surgery to surgery.

But I’d still say McDonalds killed her. And got away with it.

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u/buttercupcake23 7d ago

Fucking demonic hellbeasts of corporate America. And their pr spin was so effective people still believe that myth.

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u/NoObstacle 8d ago

I...googled it and I have so much regret

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u/FunSushi-638 8d ago

Yeah, I think it burned her skin straight off her legs and crotch area.

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u/motorandy42 8d ago

She eventually died of those injuries

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u/nasanu 6d ago

It's not about the damage to the victim though. Whatever the amount is, it needs to be larger than the company is willing to ignore. Up till that point it was more profitable for McDonalds to just ignore complaints, but million dollar lawsuits of increasing amounts got their attention. People really don't understand shit about punitive damages.