McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

[DonkeyJote]

There's a difference between hot coffee and coffee that's going to give you third-degree burns if you spill it on yourself, is served at least 40 degrees hotter than any other restaurant, and still served despite repeated warnings to McDonald's by experts that the temperature is unsafe.

Here's another way of putting it: Have you ever spilled a beverage? What if spilling that beverage put you in the hospital for 8 days and required skin grafts?

Yes, coffee is hot, but that doesn't mean it has to be served dangerously hot.

Mcdonald's coffee is not hotter than everyone else's. It's colder than most, in fact. They had to get new coffee makers when the oatmeal came out because the water in the old ones actually wasn't hot enough for oatmeal.

40 degrees hotter? Let me ask you, seriously, how hot do you think coffee typically is?

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[bigeastbumrush]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/m...y3iiHmrb2O6erO

Justice was served

#youwantfrieswiththat

[Pared]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

Mcdonald's coffee is not hotter than everyone else's. It's colder than most, in fact. They had to get new coffee makers when the oatmeal came out because the water in the old ones actually wasn't hot enough for oatmeal.

40 degrees hotter? Let me ask you, seriously, how hot do you think coffee typically is?

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The discussion is about the temperature of the coffee at the time, not now.

Of course the temperature of the coffee is lower now. Their engineers have to be mindful of this now because of the lawsuit. It has changed the way they operate these machines - for the better.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

The discussion is about the temperature of the coffee at the time, not now.

Of course the temperature of the coffee is lower now. Their engineers have to be mindful of this now because of the lawsuit. It has changed the way they operate these machines - for the better.

From everything I've seen about it, at the time, McDonald's coffee was about 185 degrees freshly brewed. They held it between 170-180 degrees. Now it gets held at about 160 degrees, brews at probably 170-180. My K-Cup brewer at home brews at 192 degrees by default. The water for the oatmeal, for the record, has to be 190 degrees, but we haven't seen anyone complain about that.

And you have no idea how many people complain about how cold McDonald's coffee is. Even freshly brewed, in the past I had people ask me if I could put it in the microwave (which I had to reply no). And the lady was stupid enough to try adding cream and sugar in her lap while driving. If she had pulled to the side and taken care of it, she probably doesn't get burned. Coffee is a hot beverage. Has anyone sued Totinos for burning the roof of their mouth with a Pizza Roll?

[chia51]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

From everything I've seen about it, at the time, McDonald's coffee was about 185 degrees freshly brewed. They held it between 170-180 degrees. Now it gets held at about 160 degrees, brews at probably 170-180. My K-Cup brewer at home brews at 192 degrees by default. The water for the oatmeal, for the record, has to be 190 degrees, but we haven't seen anyone complain about that.

And you have no idea how many people complain about how cold McDonald's coffee is. Even freshly brewed, in the past I had people ask me if I could put it in the microwave (which I had to reply no). And the lady was stupid enough to try adding cream and sugar in her lap while driving. If she had pulled to the side and taken care of it, she probably doesn't get burned. Coffee is a hot beverage. Has anyone sued Totinos for burning the roof of their mouth with a Pizza Roll?

America has just about lost all common sense. It doesn't matter how hot the coffee is (160, 180, 250), either way its hot and everyone knows that, always have. You KNOW its hot and accept the coffee as is when bought, again common fu***** sense.

Its 100% her fault for trying to drive while attempting and failing at making a f****** cup of HOT coffee, she is an idiot, plain and simple. Her lawyers did a good *** job of making it big news and forcing McDonalds to change... was it warranted? Maybe, maybe not. Both sides have 'legit' points, but I side with McD's on this one.

Why has no one has sued ICEE for giving people brain freezes? Its been happening for about generation now, why not? Well because we all know that if you drink that s*** too fast its going to cause a brain freeze and WE are the ones who choose whether or not to accept the risk of drinking too much too fast.

The McStupid Lady did it to herself and she was rewarded by the court system. Unfortunately it (suing) is now part of American culture, its the bailing out of stupidity and the reaffirmation that common sense is all but gone.

This case set the precedent for the culture of suing anyone for anything, while at the same time allowing people to not take responsibility for their own actions.

(and before you go on (reply) about how brain freezes are permanent, just remember, who did this to her?)

[LingeringRegime]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

This is great news. I have a little more faith in humanity now.

[ScoobySnax]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

This is the definition of winning. He got to beat the **** out of some silly hoes and didn't even get in trouble.

#allhailMcHero

[Pared]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

From everything I've seen about it, at the time, McDonald's coffee was about 185 degrees freshly brewed. They held it between 170-180 degrees. Now it gets held at about 160 degrees, brews at probably 170-180. My K-Cup brewer at home brews at 192 degrees by default. The water for the oatmeal, for the record, has to be 190 degrees, but we haven't seen anyone complain about that.

And you have no idea how many people complain about how cold McDonald's coffee is. Even freshly brewed, in the past I had people ask me if I could put it in the microwave (which I had to reply no). And the lady was stupid enough to try adding cream and sugar in her lap while driving. If she had pulled to the side and taken care of it, she probably doesn't get burned. Coffee is a hot beverage. Has anyone sued Totinos for burning the roof of their mouth with a Pizza Roll?

While I don't know the specifics of the actual temperature (google searching would do wonders, eh?), I can tell you that an engineer I know that has worked at a company that services these machines were aware of the situation before it happened. This was an ongoing thing for years.

It was well documented and many were aware of it before the accident.

The lady in the documentary was NOT driving, she was in the passenger seat. Her grandson was driving. Did you even watch the documentary? It sounds like you're simply regurgitating the same misinformation others have mentioned.

[chia51]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

The lady in the documentary was NOT driving, she was in the passenger seat. Her grandson was driving. Did you even watch the documentary? It sounds like you're simply regurgitating the same misinformation others have mentioned.

But she still spilled it on herself, right?

(I did not watch the doc) So did she sue due to the temp. of the coffee or because she was not warned of the temp? I don't remember exactly... either way, imo, she still knew it was hot and she spilled it on herself.

[Pared]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

Her doctor bills were astronomical due to the work needed to be performed on her. While I don't recall the exact specifics of this part of the doc., the amount of damage caused (remember, this was a very old women whose skin is fragile) was inconceivable for a coffee spill.

There are pictures and the like provided. I felt the same way most of you are arguing until I saw the damage "hot coffee" did to this woman's skin.

[DonkeyJote]

Her doctor bills were astronomical due to the work needed to be performed on her. While I don't recall the exact specifics of this part of the doc., the amount of damage caused (remember, this was a very old women whose skin is fragile) was inconceivable for a coffee spill.

There are pictures and the like provided. I felt the same way most of you are arguing until I saw the damage "hot coffee" did to this woman's skin.

Hey, I'm not saying she was faking or anything like that. I've been burned by hot coffee, and it's painful. But I don't see how that was ever McDonald's fault. They serve(d) hot coffee because that's how their customers wanted it. Starbucks got sued for something similar a couple years ago. I just don't believe it's the business's fault. If the coffee had been spilled due to the fault of the customer, then that's fine. But to me suing over this is like suing McDonald's because they gave you heart disease or suing Jack Daniels because it gave you liver disease.

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[areobee401]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

So is McDonald's going to do the right thing and give Rayon his job back?

[DonkeyJote]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

So is McDonald's going to do the right thing and give Rayon his job back?

Honestly, that'd be dumb of them. While I'm glad charges weren't pressed against him, he's not out of the woods yet, and neither is McDonald's. One or both could be sued, and McDonald's will be more liable if they rehired him.

[Pared]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

Hey, I'm not saying she was faking or anything like that. I've been burned by hot coffee, and it's painful. But I don't see how that was ever McDonald's fault. They serve(d) hot coffee because that's how their customers wanted it. Starbucks got sued for something similar a couple years ago. I just don't believe it's the business's fault. If the coffee had been spilled due to the fault of the customer, then that's fine. But to me suing over this is like suing McDonald's because they gave you heart disease or suing Jack Daniels because it gave you liver disease.

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Ha - fair enough.

[rsnomar05]

Re: McDonald's fight: The Employee Strikes Back

Hey, I'm not saying she was faking or anything like that. I've been burned by hot coffee, and it's painful. But I don't see how that was ever McDonald's fault. They serve(d) hot coffee because that's how their customers wanted it. Starbucks got sued for something similar a couple years ago. I just don't believe it's the business's fault. If the coffee had been spilled due to the fault of the customer, then that's fine. But to me suing over this is like suing McDonald's because they gave you heart disease or suing Jack Daniels because it gave you liver disease.

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The average home coffee maker brews at around 135 degrees, and this was served at around 185 degrees. McDonald's had received 700 prior complaints about third degree burns and had conducted studies that concluded the coffee was being served at an unsafe temperature. At trial, they even ADMITTED to this fact, but tried to argue that market research had shown that most people drink their coffee when they get to work, and brewing at such a high temperature was required so that the coffee would still be hot when customers arrived at work.

Also, legally, if McDonald's knew or should have known that their coffee when spilled could cause third degree burns (and they did know- there were 700 prior complaints) and customers potentially spilling the coffee was reasonably foreseeable (which it is, since people spill beverages all the time) then they had a duty to warn their customers beyond printing "contents may be hot" on the cup lid. Did they do this? No.

And the jury did find the woman to be partially at fault (she was the one who spilled the coffee after all- though she wasn't driving, as is popularly believed). Her being partially at fault does not mean that McDonald's wasn't also negligent, which is why under comparative fault McDonald's was held liable.

This also isn't like suing Jack Daniels because you got liver disease. You KNOW that liver disease is a risk and you accept that risk with Jack Daniels. You don't expect the coffee you buy at McDonald's to be served at an unsafe temperature or require 8 days of hospitalization if you spill it on yourself. That would be like saying, "Well, skiing is a dangerous sport, and it's your fault you skied into that rock and broke your leg" when the ski-patrol knew the rock was there, knew people couldn't see it and were getting injured skiing into it, intended to close the trail, but forgot.

Finally, the woman offered to settle for the cost of her medical bills ($20,000), and McDonald's refused.