Each year, products that are manufactured or sold in the United States suddenly (and often unexpectedly) find the products or their company names/logos splashed across the 21st century’s never-ending news feeds and social media outlets. Now, from a marketing perspective, many types of publicity can be viewed as potentially valuable, with the ability to help a business grow. However, publicity that is not positive, can be quite harmful. Negative publicity can happen in a number of ways. For example, negative publicity is generated when a product or company is a named participant in one of the many product liability cases filed each year through the local, state, and federal courts.
When businesses and manufacturers place defective products into the hands of consumers, they are compromising the safety of anyone who ends up using the product. Product liability lawsuits are the result of the damage or injury caused by a defective product.
Business professionals understand that the potential for a product liability lawsuit is a business risk that is simply unavoidable, so it must be managed by way of legal and insurance guidance and protection. Yet, despite the fact that most vigilant businesses and manufacturers take the appropriate care in managing product liability risk, product liability cases do happen.
Over the years, there have been some rather interesting and unusual product liability cases that have garnered national media attention.
But more than 25 years later, it is the famous hot coffee served through a McDonald’s drive-thru that holds the distinction of still being the most absurd product liability lawsuit. Although, many legal minds would hotly (no pun intended) debate this assertion.
McD’s Burning Hot Coffee
Stella Liebeck was driving through a McDonald’s restaurant drive-thru back in the mid-1990s. While Ms. Liebeck was still sitting in her car – which was parked in the drive-thru lane, she somehow spilled the hot coffee she just purchased at the drive-thru window. Unfortunately, Ms. Liebeck suffered serious burns to her upper legs and groin area when she spilled the hot coffee on her lap.
Product liability lawyers representing Ms. Liebeck argued that McDonald’s serviced unreasonably hot coffee to Ms. Liebeck. The plaintiff’s attorneys provided evidence that demonstrated that other similar food chains and restaurants served their hot coffee at only 140 degrees.
Ultimately, a jury awarded Ms. Liebeck more than $2.5 million for punitive damages, plus more than $150,000 to cover the costs of Ms. Liebeck’s medical expenses and care in connection with the incident.