Woman sues Dunkin Donuts for 15Million

[Linda7NJ]

I hope that DD doesn't settle out of court with her. I don't think that she should be rewarded for her carelessness.

P.S. I hope that we are allowed to log on from other computers. I am using my mother's computer in Maryland.

I think it's REASONABLE to assume when the person at the window passes me a tray of hot coffee, the lids would have been secured. Don't you?

 

[Casshew]

Maybe they should start selling coffee in tupperware :bang:

 

[englishleigh]

Accidents happen, coffee is hot. I'm sorry this happened to her, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Likely she will win some settlement, but 15 mil is extreme and I really don't think DD is at fault here.

 

[KatherineQ]

I wonder if they had a warning Caution: contents hot - on the cup? I know McDonalds does...

That coffee is sold for consumption - a prepared beverage, meant to be consumed when you buy it.

It shouldn't be 200 degrees. The reason it IS 200 degrees, is it takes less coffee grounds to make it if you make it that hot, than if you make it at a reasonable temperature. So, to save some money making coffee, DD is serving something that is so hot it will burn your mouth and throat if you try to drink it when they hand it to you.

Sue them until they cut that out. They didn't learn by watching what happened to McDonalds, some companies don't learn by example. I'd say sue them until they hurt enough to quit selling scalding beverages.

How many people, per day, burn their mouths on that coffee? Too many. So many lawsuits seem frivolous to me, but this one - they serve coffee knowing it will burn you if you try to drink it - seems reasonable to make them hear the message loud and clear.

 

[Mabel]

I agree, Katherine Q. I thought the McDonalds suit was frivolous until I learned the extent of that poor woman's injuries and that the coffee was hotter than the law allows it to be sold. Sure, we can all be clumsy, but no product sold with the intent of being immediately consumed should be that hot. If you accidentally spill the coffee you make at home on yourself you'll get burned, but it won't melt the flesh off your bones like it did in the case of the McDonald's woman.

 

[Casshew]

That coffee is sold for consumption - a prepared beverage, meant to be consumed when you buy it.

and icecream is supposed to be frozen.. can I sue if it melts on my shirt?

The fact is she would not have be injured if she had not of taken it in a moving vehicle and spilled it on herself.

There are no other reports of mouths, throats, lips or tongues being burned (so far) sure coffee is supposed to be hot, but I always add cream and wait for it to cool a bit. People who drink coffee black - must wait for a while or sip very carefully.

 

[Mabel]

and icecream is supposed to be frozen.. can I sue if it melts on my shirt?

The fact is she would not have be injured if she had not of taken it in a moving vehicle and spilled it on herself.

There are no other reports of mouths, throats, lips or tongues being burned (so far) sure coffee is supposed to be hot, but I always add cream and wait for it to cool a bit. People who drink coffee black - must wait for a while or sip very carefully.

In the McDonald's case, it came out in court that there were more than 700 complaints on file about injuries resulting from the too hot coffee in the 10 years preceeding Stella Liebeck's lawsuit.

 

[Casshew]

So 700 people were clumsy and accepted it... and one wanted millions?

 

[Mabel]

So 700 people were clumsy and accepted it... and one wanted millions?

Lol...no, there were 700 claims against McDonalds. In some of the cases there were lawsuits. McDonalds settled many of the claims out of court. There's no way of knowing how many people were burned that simply accepted it.

Mrs. Liebeck originally asked only for help paying her medical bills of $20k. McDonalds refused. Then a mediator recommended a settlement of about $250,000. Again McDonalds refused. So she sued their McButts. The jury awarded Mrs. Liebeck 2.7 mile but the judge reduced it to $480,000. Since then, some kind of settlement was reached and no one really knows how much money she ended up with.

 

[Mabel]

I was curious, so I checked. My Mr. Coffee makes coffee and maintains it at a temp of about 130 degrees. It's hot enough that you don't want to drink it without giving it a few minutes to cool down after pouring a cup. If I spilled it on myself it would hurt and would probably leave a red spot for a few days.

I see no reason for restaurants to sell coffee at temps up to 70 degrees hotter than my Mr. Coffee makes it, especially when they know the coffee is going to be consumed in a car and there is a greater potential for an accident. Coffee should NOT be so hot that it melts people's flesh down to the bone. Two years later the McCoffee lady was still undergoing medical treatment. That's just wrong.

 

[Casshew]

Lol...no, there were 700 claims against McDonalds.

:crazy: Well it was worth a shot!

 

[Casshew]

I was curious, so I checked. My Mr. Coffee makes coffee and maintains it at a temp of about 130 degrees.

Well that does it... today I am launching a law suit against Mr. Coffee for not being hot enough.

But seriously, I don't think anyone can say anything to convince me that spilling coffee on your dumbself is anyones fault but your own.

What if I spill bleach? or crazy glue or CLR or anything caustic? - it's my own fault.

 

[Mabel]

Well that does it... today I am launching a law suit against Mr. Coffee for not being hot enough.

But seriously, I don't think anyone can say anything to convince me that spilling coffee on your dumbself is anyones fault but your own.

What if I spill bleach? or crazy glue or CLR or anything caustic? - it's my own fault.

I'm the one who brought the Mr. Coffee thing to your attention so I want my cut. I'm willing to negotiate an immediate settlement, today only.

If you spill bleach on yourself and it burns through your skin like acid, exposing the bone, I'd say you have a pretty good lawsuit on your hands. It's not supposed to do that. Certainly coffee isn't supposed to.

 

[Casshew]

Certainly coffee isn't supposed to.

you've never tried my coffee :angel:

 

[Sherry67]

200 degrees is extremely hot.....I would wonder if the styrofoam cup could even handle 200 degree's. How were they able to measure the temp?


I agree that this is a bogus lawsuit. It's basically extortion....this woman will find a lawyer that will do the work knowing full well that DD will probably settle out of court just to save $$$$.

For all of you that say sue......remember that when you have to pay a lot more $$$$ for products because of these these types of lawsuits. The same goes for people who sue over medical situations that could probably not be helped. In Wi we have a Cap on the amount you can sue for - and the result is that we have some very good MD's building their practice here. My OB/GYN originally came from the East coast , but chose to move here for his practice - because the cost of malpractice insurance is completely unaffordable where he is from. It's a double edge sword.

 

[Casshew]

Maybe I missed it, but how did they know the temp of the coffee? are they assuming 200 degrees by the injuries? or was there a cup unspilled that they checked? or was it something they did at the DD afterwards?

A lot of these coffee shops use Bunn professional equipment.. etc.. I am not sure if the individual store has any say into the settings.

 

[crash676]

Ok I'm not trying to be cynical I swear but I am holding a cup of DD's coffee in my hot little hands and it has a clear disclaimer on it. As for the lid not being on Has anyone ever bought a soda at a drive thru and grabbed it by the lid and not the base of the cup. I know I have and guess what happens the lid comes off. I love the fact that the world is litigation insane otherwise I would be broke but enough is enough already. As for 200 degrees that is a guess on someone's part. There is no way to accurately measure the temperature that will burn a person's skin. Everyone has different skin elasticity and a person of 60 will burn more severely than one in their 20's. Skin becomes essentially thinner as we age. Not literally but that is the best way I know how to describe it. DD should not be responsible for the shear clumsiness of an individual. As for her injuries it sounds like she ordered more than one cup of coffee. It sound like perhaps the car hit a bump and she ended up with a drink holder full of beverages in her lap. Just an observation from the severity of the injuries reported. I could be wrong.

 

[Mabel]

Maybe I missed it, but how did they know the temp of the coffee? are they assuming 200 degrees by the injuries? or was there a cup unspilled that they checked? or was it something they did at the DD afterwards?

A lot of these coffee shops use Bunn professional equipment.. etc.. I am not sure if the individual store has any say into the settings.

I don't know about in the DD case, but in the McDonalds case they ordered coffee from different restaurants and used a thermometer to test it. The McDonalds operations and training manual says its coffee must be brewed at 195 to 205 degrees. The location where Mrs. McCoffee bought her cup later reduced the temp of the coffee they sell to 158 degrees, so I would assume there is some ability to change the temps on the machines.

 

[Casshew]

Ok I'm not trying to be cynical I swear but I am holding a cup of DD's coffee in my hot little hands and it has a clear disclaimer on it. As for the lid not being on Has anyone ever bought a soda at a drive thru and grabbed it by the lid and not the base of the cup. I know I have and guess what happens the lid comes off. I love the fact that the world is litigation insane otherwise I would be broke but enough is enough already. As for 200 degrees that is a guess on someone's part. There is no way to accurately measure the temperature that will burn a person's skin. Everyone has different skin elasticity and a person of 60 will burn more severely than one in their 20's. Skin becomes essentially thinner as we age. Not literally but that is the best way I know how to describe it. DD should not be responsible for the shear clumsiness of an individual. As for her injuries it sounds like she ordered more than one cup of coffee. It sound like perhaps the car hit a bump and she ended up with a drink holder full of beverages in her lap. Just an observation from the severity of the injuries reported. I could be wrong.

Good post crash... it looks like we need more info, I have spilled coffee on myself before and it didn't burn me because my clothes protected me... was this woman naked? was she wearing nylons? nylons can melt like plastic - maybe thats why her legs were so burned.

Mabel, this is going back a few years but at the restaurant I worked at it was all automated, drop a premeasured pack of coffee in one compartment, and press on... just one switch to control.

 

[Mabel]

Good post crash... it looks like we need more info, I have spilled coffee on myself before and it didn't burn me because my clothes protected me... was this woman naked? was she wearing nylons? nylons can melt like plastic - maybe thats why her legs were so burned.

Mabel, this is going back a few years but at the restaurant I worked at it was all automated, drop a premeasured pack of coffee in one compartment, and press on... just one switch to control.

It says in the article that she was wearing jeans.

I checked a site that sells commercial Bunn coffee makers. It appears that at least some of them have internal thermostats that can be set to regulate the temps. The highest setting is 200 degrees.