We’ve posted a number of items about Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the 79- year-old woman who filed a personal injury suit against McDonald’s after suffering second and third-degree burns when a cup of scalding hot coffee she purchased at the giant fast-food chain spilled in her lap. The case gained nationwide notoriety after a jury awarded her $2.9 million in damages—an amount equal to McDonald’s average coffee sales over a two day period. The business community and the Republicans who do their bidding in Congress and state legislatures across the nation, quickly made the case—Ms. Liebeck—the focal point of their efforts to enact tort “reform” laws that would slam the courthouse door in the faces of men, women, and children injured or killed by dangerous products or corporate negligence. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, and National Restaurant Association among others aired millions of dollars in ads about the case in markets around the country in an attempt to elicit public support for their all-out assault on the civil justice system. At the same time, Ms. Liebeck also became the butt of a seemingly endless series of jokes told by late night TV hosts, including John Stewart, the usually thoughtful and consumer-friendly host of the “Daily Show,” and episodes of “Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons.” The combination of the near-nightly recitation of derisive tales and paid ads that made the severely burned 79-year-old the poster woman for “frivolous” lawsuits had a significant impact on a public that was already mistrustful of lawyers and helped pave the way for passage of tort reform legislation in many states, including Ohio. The Lieback case played—and continues to play—such a pivotal role in the debate over tort reform that Susan Saladoff, a practicing medical malpractice attorney for more than 25 years, featured the case in her widely-heralded documentary film “Hot Coffee.” The movie reveals what really happened to Ms. Liebeck, explores how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the ads about the case and why they spent so much money to air them. To learn more about his outstanding film please visit hotcoffeethemovie While “Hot Coffee” does a great job of explaining how and why the business community exploited the Liebeck case, it does not fully examine the way in which the media covered it. That void was filled this week when the “New York Times” released “Scalded by Coffee, Then the News Media,” a 12 minute video that takes a close look at what Wake Forest Communications Professor John Llewellyn calls “…the most widely misunderstood story in America.” According to Professor Llewellyn the media train went off the rails almost immediately after the jury rendered its verdict. The day after the trial the “Albuquerque Journal” ran a 700-word story about the case that included essential details about what had happened Ms. Liebeck. Those details provided context for the multi-million dollar award. Unfortunately, as Professor Llewellyn notes, those details disappeared as the story moved up the media food chain. “The original 697-word story in the ‘Journal’ became a 349-word story put out on the Associated Press wire, that then became a 48 word story in many major metropolitan dailies,” he said. “As a result what was conveyed was ‘woman,’ ‘coffee,’ ‘millions’ which sounds like a rip-off rather than the consequences of a thoughtful trial. As a result of this inadequate reporting and the millions of dollars of ads aired by corporate America a large portion of the public believed that McDonald’s, not Ms. Liebeck, was the victim in the case. “The fact that Stella Liebeck was forced to defend her reputation for the rest of her life is, to me, the saddest part of this story,” Professor Llewellyn said.” Ms. Liebeck died in 2004 at the age of 91. Along with critiquing the media coverage of the case, the “Times” video offers a point-by-point refutation of many of the urban legends and myths that surround Liebeck v. McDonald’s to this day. Here’s a brief summary of some of the most important points: • The media, including political pundits like conservative George Will, repeatedly stated that Ms. Liebeck spilled the coffee while driving down the road. In fact, she was a passenger in a car driven by her nephew that was parked in the McDonald’s lot when the incident occurred. • The media never mentioned the fact the Ms. Liebeck was not the first person burned by McDonald’s coffee. During the discovery process that proceeded trial her attorney learned that more than 700 people had been burned before her and had reported the incidents to the company. • The media failed to report that the company served coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees—30 degrees hotter than most home coffee brewers. That was a critical omission because most of us have spilled coffee at home without suffering severe injury. As a result it made it easy for the media and tort “reform” advocates to call the case “frivolous.” • The media did not report that the judge in the case reduced the $2.6 million in punitive damages awarded by the jury (a figure that represented the revenue generated by two days of coffee sales at McDonalds) to less than $700,000. • The media failed to report that before hiring an attorney Ms. Liebeck and her family wrote to the company and asked them to do two things: compensate her for the $10,000 in medical bills she wracked-up during her week-long hospital stay and turn down the temperature of their coffee. The company offered $800 and refused to cool down their java. • The media never fully detailed the extent of her injuries. She suffered severe burns over 16% of her body, six percent of which were third degree. • The media neglected to report that before going to trial Ms. Liebeck and her attorney offered to settle the case twice. McDonalds rejected their offers. • The media forgot to tell the public that a burn expert who testified during the trial said coffee served at 180 to 190 degrees caused second and third degree burns within 15 seconds of contacting skin. Here’s one other thing the media still doesn’t mention: shortly after the jury handed down its verdict, McDonalds reduced the temperature at which it serves coffee by ten degrees—even though company lawyers argued during trial that the company could not do so. That last fact underscores a point we’ve made repeatedly in our blog: personal injury lawsuits often force companies to make their products and practices safer. And that, as Stella Liebeck says in an interview that is included in “Scalded by Coffee, Then the News Media,” is all she ever wanted to do. She merely wanted to ensure that no one ever had to suffer like her again. We urge you to watch this fascinating video which can be found by following this link: nytimes/2013/10/21/booming/not-just-a-hot-cup-anymore.html?src=rechp&_r=0 We warn you however, that the video does contain very graphic images of Ms. Liebeck’s burns. Images the news media and comedians never bothered to show us. We also urge you to contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Anzellotti, Sperling, Pazol & Small if you or a member of your family are ever injured by a faulty product or corporate negligence. We’ll arrange a free consultation that will enable us to evaluate your case and provide you with sound advice on what you should do to pursue justice and the financial compensation you need and deserve.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 17:05:15 +0000
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