Case Summary – Stella Liebeck vs. McDonald’s

McDonald's Hot Coffee Lawsuit

In 1992, news media across the United States exploded over a now-infamous personal injury case in which a woman (Stella Liebeck) was awarded just short of $3 million in damages when she spilled a cup of scalding hot coffee in her lap. This case has become synonymous with America’s over-litigious society and a supposed lack of common sense. However, when you take a closer look at Liebeck’s case, you may be surprised to find out that this was not a greedy woman attempting to get rich off of a small injury.

In fact, upon examining the details of this case, you might come away with an entirely different point of view. This is not a case of greed; it’s a case of a large corporation refusing to address an elderly woman’s reasonable request for compensation for medical costs. In this case summary, you’ll see what actually happened, how Liebeck sought reasonable compensation, and how, by refusing to pay that compensation, McDonald’s set themselves up for a much larger suit.

---

The Incident

Contrary to rumors, Liebeck was not operating her vehicle, nor was it moving at the time she was burned. Her grandson was driving his car, and Ms. Liebeck was in the passenger seat.

The car was parked so that Ms. Liebeck could put cream in her coffee. With the cup between her knees, she attempted to remove the lid and accidentally spilled the entire contents of the cup in her lap. Her sweatpants immediately absorbed all of the coffee, holding the hot liquid against her skin and resulting in scalds over her thighs, buttocks, and groin.

At the hospital, doctors found that she had suffered third degree burns, and Ms. Liebeck underwent skin grafts and lost over twenty pounds during her eight-day stay at the hospital. Her full medical costs were expected to reach at least $18,000.

The Claim

Under tort law, Ms. Liebeck attempted to pursue compensation for her medical bills in the form of a $20,000 settlement with McDonald’s. You can see, at this point, that Ms. Liebeck was only asking for a small percentage more than her actual and expected medical costs. Instead of agreeing to pay this relatively small figure, though, McDonald’s offered to settle at just $800.  

At this point, Ms. Liebeck retained a personal injury attorney who filed a gross negligence suit against McDonald’s. However, at this point Ms. Liebeck and her attorney were still not asking for seven figures. Rather, her attorney offered to settle at $90,000. McDonald’s refused, and the case proceeded to trial.

It should also be noted that, just prior to trial, Ms. Liebeck’s attorney offered to settle once more for $300,000, but McDonald’s refused this, as well. You can see that McDonald’s had no fewer than three chances to settle at much lower costs than what was eventually awarded to Ms. Liebeck.

The Trial

When the case went to court, the jury determined that Ms. Liebeck was 20% liable for the incident due to the warning label on the cup of coffee and that McDonald’s held the other 80% of liability for the incident. In the end, for compensatory damages, Ms. Liebeck was awarded $160,000 plus an additional $2.7 million in punitive damages, a number that was reached based on two days’ worth of McDonald’s revenue from coffee sales. However, Ms. Liebeck did not actually receive millions of dollars in damages, as the judge reduced those damages to $480,000. All told, Ms. Liebeck did not receive millions but rather settled after trial on an undisclosed amount that was reported as less than $600,000.

If you believe that you have a personal injury case against a large or small corporation, do not hesitate to talk to the Los Angeles product liability attorneys. Ms. Liebeck is not a millionaire from her ordeal with McDonald’s, but she did eventually get compensation for her injuries.