I was bitten by a neighbor’s dog, eating and drinking in a restaurant were too hot, children choked on fast food... These kinds of trivial things that seem inconspicuous in life, if they happen in the United States, they may be Trigger a big lawsuit, get a huge amount of compensation that is not cheap or even unexpected. One of the most famous is the story of McDonald's hot coffee scalding an old lady and paying up to millions of dollars in compensation. This story has become a famous case in judicial proceedings and is widely known all over the world.
Stella, a 65-year-old American woman, took her grandson out to go shopping. At lunch, she bought some food from McDonald's and brought it to the car. Stella took out a cup of hot coffee, and when she was about to drink it, her grandson was arguing that she couldn't open the hamburger wrapper, so Stella had to put down the coffee to help. Because there was no flat place in the car to put a coffee cup, Stella had to place the cup between her legs to free her hands to help her grandson. Surprisingly, the temperature of the coffee was so high that it burned a piece of skin on Stella's leg.
Stella complained very much about this, but she only regarded it as a general episode in her life and didn't care too much. A few days later, she talked about this while chatting with her lawyer. She was just an elderly lady. She wanted to find someone to talk to. She had no other ideas, but Stella’s lawyer But I don't think so. He asked in detail about the entire incident and recorded it. The next day, he came to the McDonald's where Stella bought coffee and politely asked their manager to come out. The manager is a very cheerful person, and the conversation between the two is "very pleasant".
When the lawyer asked if the coffee in the shop was a little hot, the manager explained: According to scientific research, the aroma of coffee is the strongest at a certain temperature, which can attract more attention. Many customers.
The lawyer continued to ask: "Will the customer get burned because of this?"
The manager replied: "You need to be careful about this."
This simple manager had no idea what serious consequences this seemingly simple conversation would bring.
A week later, McDonald’s received a subpoena from the court. In court, Stella's lawyers were impassioned, and that conversation became the most unfavorable evidence for McDonald's. The lawyer said in court: “McDonald’s fully understands that the temperature of the coffee sold may cause harm to the human body, but they still do so. This is a naked disregard for customer safety. There is no hint on the coffee packaging and in the McDonald’s store. They said that the coffee they sold might burn people, but their person in charge said:'This can only be done by everyone.'"
In the end, Stella successfully won the lawsuit and received a compensation of up to one million. Of course, this lawyer also received a lot of legal fees.
The impact of this case is huge. Since then, McDonald's has lowered the temperature of coffee in its branches all over the world, and reminded it in a prominent position: the temperature is high, be careful of burns.