maniajackSep 20, 2023

TIL In the Hot Coffee lawsuit against McDonalds,punitive damages were given due to McDonalds intentionally overheating coffee to save money on refills

https://lemmy.world/post/5386240

TIL In the Hot Coffee lawsuit against McDonalds,punitive damages were given due to McDonalds intentionally overheating coffee to save money on refills - Lemmy.world

During the trial it was revealed that McDonald’s knew that heating their coffee to this temperature would be dangerous, but they did it anyways because it would save them money. When you serve coffee that is too hot to drink, it will take much longer for a person to drink their coffee, which means that McDonald’s will not have to give out as many free refills of coffee. This policy by the fast food chain is the reason the jury awarded $2.7 million dollars in punitive damages in the McDonald’s hot coffee case. Punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant for their inappropriate business practice.

Show threadSpaceCowboySep 20, 2023

This thing has been going around a long time. McDonald’s is bad and people will believe anything anyone makes up about the case. People on the internet tend to be contrarian, so they jump on the chance to say “well actually the women that sued McDonald’s was in the right, I know this because I’m much smarter than anyone that thinks otherwise!”

The flaw with this meme is making coffee involves boiling water. You can’t actually heat water above 100C without it turning to steam. The coffee served to the woman was significantly less than the boiling point of water, because McDonald’s isn’t able to change physics. The injuries the woman were horrific, but anyone would suffer even worse injuries if the spilled water on themselves while making a pot of Mac & Cheese. Like anything that involves boiling water to make there’s an expectation that you need to be careful when handling it.

The reality of the story is the lady that got burned admitted it was her fault. The reason she sued was to pay her medical bills. The real issue is lack of healthcare. Handling boiling water is a common thing, an accident can happen to anyone. Having a system that depends on either having a corporation associated with the accident you can sue or face bankruptcy whenever you have an accident is the real stupidity here.

I mean who would you sue if you tripped while carrying a pot of Mac & Cheese and got burned because of it? The Kraft Corporation maybe? Dumb system that brainwashed people into trying to blame accidents on a nearby corporation instead of fixing the real problem.

Show threadbane_killgrindSep 21, 2023

Wow you must be some kind of cunt scientist, moaning about the fact that the water obviously wasn't boiling because it was liquid. Significantly under 100C, sure.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7997963/#:~:text=Studies%20show%20that%20a%20temperature,skin%20burn%20in%2030%20seconds.

Water at a temperature as low as 54C "can result in a full-thickness skin burn in 30 seconds" as in, 3rd degree burns.

How fast can a 79 year old strip in a parking lot?

In a kitchen you are an least handling your boiling liquids in rigid containers instead of cardboard. Why would you be walking around with that full hot pot anyway? Did you order your pot of mac and cheese to go?

The stupid thing here is instead of the government enforcing safe products that are fit for purpose, this kind of damage to a person is civil and a tort.

Children at risk for accidental burns from hot tap water - PubMed

The American Academy of Pediatrics identifies young children at risk for accidental hot tap water (HTW) burns and recommends that HTW temperatures be set no higher than 49 degrees C (120 degrees F). Studies show that a temperature of 52 degrees C (125 degrees F) can cause a full-thickness skin burn …

PubMed
Show threadSpaceCowboy

Nah I’m the kind of scientist that actually measured the temperature of a cup of Maxwell House instant coffee. Because actual scientist test instead of just believing rando articles from personal injury lawyers.

Black (just coffee crystals and water): 88C With two spoonfuls of sugar: 80C With sugar and cream: 68C <- I drank it at this temperature, it was nice!

Feel free to peer review my findings. You only need instant coffee, a kettle and a thermometer.

Sep 22, 2023 at 12:59amWeb
Show threadbane_killgrindSep 22, 2023

A carafe, a window, a cardboard cup, and someone sitting in a car next to the window.

Or did this old lady walk up to a counter?

This experiment doesn't seem too well thought out.

Show threadSpaceCowboySep 23, 2023

So you concede the point that the temperature of the coffee was fine?

So basically you think McDonald’s shouldn’t sell coffee at the drive through window. If you were saying that, then sure, maybe I can be convinced of that. But the main point of that the “coffee was too hot” is completely invalid.

BTW what happened in reality was McDonald’s didn’t significantly change the temperature of their coffee (it’s supposed to be hot), they improved their lids and put a “warning coffee is hot” label on the cups. You could still suffer third degree burns from dumping coffee on your groin, so heed the warning on the label and be careful with it.

Show threadbane_killgrindSep 24, 2023

This is a stupid way of thinking.

Making your own coffee at home, you have complete control over how safe it is.

Buying it from a business, you expect it's not going to maim you. If a hibachi bar burns you this bad or you have equivalent injuries from dry ice at some gastro pub, the business is at fault because they should know how to prevent patrons from being injured.

Show threadSpaceCowboySep 24, 2023
The coffee was in her possession when the accident happened. Coffee is served hot, that’s just what the product is. If someone buys a knife and after the knife is safely handed to them by the employee of the store, then the customer cuts themself with the knife in their car, would you say the store didn’t take appropriate measures to ensure safety by only selling dull knives?