The chicken sandwich lawsuit

Tilted

Tilted

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Editorial - A Nonfrivolous Suit - NYTimes.com

Supporters of tort reform — and late-night comedians — like to make fun of what they say are frivolous lawsuits. One they particularly like to lampoon is the case of the woman who sued McDonald’s after she was scalded by too-hot coffee. What they don’t talk much about is just how hot the coffee was or that the 79-year-old woman was hospitalized with severe injuries. The two sides ultimately settled.

Now another patron has sued McDonald’s after his lips were burned when he bit into an extremely hot fried-chicken sandwich. A federal appeals court, ruling out of Virginia, has rightly decided to let his case go forward.

When Frank Sutton bit into his sandwich, scalding grease “flew all over his mouth,” a fellow diner recalled. Mr. Sutton’s wife took ice from her drink and applied it to his face, but his lips blistered. When he told one of the employees, he testified that she said “this is what happens” to the sandwiches “when they aren’t drained completely.” The next morning, he found that his lips had bled on the pillow.

Seven months later, his injuries still had not completely healed. He says he avoided certain work assignments at his job of refurbishing and assembling outdoor amusement rides if he thought they would make his lip condition worse. Mr. Sutton sued McDonald’s and the local franchisee, alleging that he had suffered $2 million in medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
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bcp

bcp

In My Opinion
He says he avoided certain work assignments at his job of refurbishing and assembling outdoor amusement rides if he thought they would make his lip condition worse.
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was he the guy that blew up the moon bounce or something?

I thought they had pumps for that.
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
They also never talk about the numerous complaints to McDonald's, over time, about how hot their coffee was. They also never talk about how McDonald's internal documents basically said "we do our coffee how we do our coffee. You wanna investigate us, you roll the dice and take your chances. Until then, we suggest you pick up a pot of coffee and dispense it. Either way, we don't give a damn what you think the temperature of our coffee should be."

The reality of large organizations is that, as SOP, they don't do anything without great deliberation and, ironically enough, or sadly, as the case may be, it is quite often because of legal issues; contracts for supplies, equipment, training, insurance, documentation, etc, etc.

It basically boils down to the necessity of a lawsuit being what a corporation NEEDS in order to take some actions.
 
Lugnut

Lugnut

I'm Rick James #####!
Have zero empathy for the above examples. I've burned myself with hot food on occasion. Rather severely one time. Never occurred to me to point a finger at the restaraunt.

Even a child learns to test his hot chocolate before gulping it down.

Things like this are glaring signs that "personal accountability" is pretty much a dead concept.
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
Lugnut said:
Have zero empathy for the above examples. I've burned myself with hot food on occasion. Rather severely one time. Never occurred to me to point a finger at the restaraunt.

Even a child learns to test his hot chocolate before gulping it down.

Things like this are glaring signs that "personal accountability" is pretty much a dead concept.
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Dude, I hear you BUT, McDonald's determined that they would serve at 160-170 degrees, IIRC, and the rest of the known universe serves it at around 120-130. There is an internal paper trail that shows the concerns, the specifics, and they said, 'we're doing it anyway.'

Caveat emptor is all well and good. At some point, there is a public interest, especially when we're talking something as large as McDonald's, yes?
 
Lugnut

Lugnut

I'm Rick James #####!
Larry Gude said:
Dude, I hear you BUT, McDonald's determined that they would serve at 160-170 degrees, IIRC, and the rest of the known universe serves it at around 120-130. There is an internal paper trail that shows the concerns, the specifics, and they said, 'we're doing it anyway.'

Caveat emptor is all well and good. At some point, there is a public interest, especially when we're talking something as large as McDonald's, yes?
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If a McDonalds employee spilled it on her sure, negligence, whatever. But spilling it herself, or taking a drink without testing frst...

I dunno, I just cant bring myself to agree.


Maybe if McDonalds had put the hot coffee in a container that was for cold drinks?
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
Lugnut said:
If a McDonalds employee spilled it on her sure, negligence, whatever. But spilling it herself, or taking a drink without testing frst...

I dunno, I just cant bring myself to agree.


Maybe if McDonalds had put the hot coffee in a container that was for cold drinks?
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Until I started digging into it, I agreed with you, 100%. Hot coffee? No way!

However, the more I read the more it became a sort of, as an analogy, they were the only guys in town that if you spilled their gasoline on the ground, so to speak, it would eat through your shoes and they knew it and they were intentional and deliberate about it and chose to not change it and this was over time including many, many complaints and other injuries.
 
Tilted

Tilted

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From the Fourth Circuit's opinion:

When Sutton bit into his fried chicken sandwich, “grease flew all over his mouth.” J.A. 250 (Testimony of Bill Giffon). As Sutton described it, “the grease from the inside of the chicken sandwich spread out all over my bottom lip, my top lip, down onto my chin.” J.A. 192. Sutton immediately dropped his sandwich, and his wife took ice out of her drink, put it into a napkin, and began to dab his face. Almost instantly, blisters appeared on Sutton’s lips.

After tending to his face, Sutton sought out the two McDonald’s employees to report the incident. Unable to find them inside, Sutton went back outside, where he found them again talking with two young men. He told them what had happened and showed them the blisters on his lips and chin. One of the women responded, “This is what happens to the sandwiches when they aren’t drained completely.” J.A. 12. After they finished eating, Sutton and his entourage left the truck stop.
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I'm not sure how you test to make sure there isn't a hot pocket of grease in the piece of chicken on your sandwich, unless you take the sandwich apart and cut the chicken into small pieces. I guess, if it occurred to you that such a problem was possible, you could take little tiny bites just to be on the safe side.
 
Tilted

Tilted

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Lugnut said:
If a McDonalds employee spilled it on her sure, negligence, whatever. But spilling it herself, or taking a drink without testing frst...

I dunno, I just cant bring myself to agree.


Maybe if McDonalds had put the hot coffee in a container that was for cold drinks?
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For what it's worth, the jury did find the plaintiff (the lady who spilled the coffee) to be 20% responsible. Unlike Maryland though, whatever jurisdiction the lawsuit was in utilized comparative negligence, so the compensatory damages were just reduced by 20% (as opposed to not being awarded at all).
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
Tilted said:
For what it's worth, the jury did find the plaintiff (the lady who spilled the coffee) to be 20% responsible. Unlike Maryland though, whatever jurisdiction the lawsuit was in utilized comparative negligence, so the compensatory damages were just reduced by 20% (as opposed to not being awarded at all).
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Sounds like 'FWIW' is just about 20%.

:lol:
 
Lugnut

Lugnut

I'm Rick James #####!
Tilted said:
From the Fourth Circuit's opinion:



I'm not sure how you test to make sure there isn't a hot pocket of grease in the piece of chicken on your sandwich, unless you take the sandwich apart and cut the chicken into small pieces. I guess, if it occurred to you that such a problem was possible, you could take little tiny bites just to be on the safe side.
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Yeah... That's a LITTLE different and unfortunate. But I still maintain that an individual is solely responsible for what he/she puts in their own mouth.
 
pixiegirl

pixiegirl

Cleopatra Jones
Lugnut said:
Yeah... That's a LITTLE different and unfortunate. But I still maintain that an individual is solely responsible for what he/she puts in their own mouth.
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There's a certain amount of integrity that should come with food services though. Its the same as serving meat you know is expired. HOT coffee is one thing, scalding hot coffee is another.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I want so sue somebody and get million$. I got a sandwich at Subway and the veggies were so cold that they hurt my teeth and caused me extreme and excruciating pain. Agony, even.

Anyone know a good lawyer who will take a case like that?
 
libertytyranny

libertytyranny

Dream Stealer
K_Jo

K_Jo

Pea Brain
PREMO Member
vraiblonde said:
I want so sue somebody and get million$. I got a sandwich at Subway and the veggies were so cold that they hurt my teeth and caused me extreme and excruciating pain. Agony, even.

Anyone know a good lawyer who will take a case like that?
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I want to sue you because sometimes my magnetic refrigerator flamingo makes a BOINGGGG noise and it scares me.
 
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