Research the case of Stella Liebeck, an elderly grandmother who received third-degree burns when she spilled coffee purchased at a McDonald’s drive-through. Stella Liebeck was a 79 years old grand-mother who suffered third degree burn in her pelvic region when she accidentally spilled hot coffee on her lap while sitting on the passenger side of her grandson’s car after she purchased a cup of coffee from McDonald drive-through window. She was subsequently hospitalized, while she underwent skin grafting, requiring further treatment for another two years after the burn. Here I present exclusively the research of her story; the incident, pretrial, and the jury’s verdict and why they reach such a unanimous decision. • What was the basis of her claim …show more content…
The basis of Stella Liebeck’s claim against McDonald is strict product liability. Wikipedia defines strict product liability as “the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause”. Fortunately enough, Stella Liebeck understood the law and would not be intimidated by any mean or plot by McDonald to refuse accepting liability for her injury. Understandably, it was proven by McDonald research team that serving coffee as hot as that was not something palatable to many costumers even though costumers wanted the coffee hot; some wanted to consume their coffee immediately which makes it impossible to do when as hot as when purchased. Notwithstanding, coffee industry regulation suggest that coffee should not be hotter than 140 °F (60 °C), to avoid severe burn or other related injury. Stella Liebeck, …show more content…
Moreover, if the alleged tort was negligence, Lau and Johnson stated clearly that “When it happens, and it turns out that the reason was carelessness or a failure to act reasonably, then the tort of negligence may apply”. (2011, p. 125). Again, negligence is not found reasonably with McDonald in this case. Comprehensively, the alleged tort was strict liability. According to Mosby, strict liability is defined as “A case in which negligence does not have to be proven in order to be found legally liable” (2005). In other words, strict liability torts required neither intent nor carefulness. If strict liability applies, it is therefore irrelevant how carelessly , or how carefully the defendant acted, and it does not matter if the defendant took every necessary precaution to avoid harm; if someone is harmed in a situation where strict liability applies, the defendant is obviously liable. This is the exact situation with McDonald who is into business to serve its customer with what they felt was the best product to be consumed during long distance journey to work or wherever. Nonetheless, liability rest on McDonald because harm is cause by it product without any intention, and without any negligence on their service. Ordinarily, McDonald exonerated itself
Jane Parks-Mckay, 63, placed a boiling pot of macaroni on the stove and lit the flame when she noticed grease ringing in the burner. During this time, she had an idea that seemed logical at the time. She pulled out a roll of paper towels that she had dipped in vinegar, and she started to clean. The flame still continued.
How was McDonald’s supposed to know that Stella would spill the coffee on herself? Coffee is meant to be served hot, just as blades are meant to be sharp. Stella suing for being burned by coffee is the same principal as a person suing a knife company after being cut by one of their products. The world is a dangerous place; many things around us have the capability to cause damage. Corporations should not be held responsible for any damage sustained after using their product improperly. McDonald’s could not have prevented Stella spilling the coffee on herself.
The cultural identity that contributes to the poor health outcome of Senora Vasquez is that initially she doesn’t want to receive treatment from the hospital upon having a burned leg. Since they don’t have enough money to support the treatment Senora Benita has stop drinking the antibiotics and changed the dressing for only few times which makes the site become more infected. Prior to that, upon having the burns she put some lard or butter to the site and some herbs, which is not proven to be helpful in treating burn areas this lead to infection of the patients burn site. Also, self-care beliefs, the tendency of using home remedies, which was perceived as minor problem, was not given attention
The case of Dax Cowart is about a 25 years old man, Dax Cowart, who was a severe burn victim. His father was burnt to death in the fire. Cowart suffered severe and disabling burns over most of his body. He loss of both his hands, right eye, and ears, and his left eyelid sewn shut. Also, he was dipped in a chlorinated bath to fight infection and having the bandages covering his body regularly stripped and replaced during the medical treatments.
On the 1st of October in the year 2017, the defendant, in this case, the supermarket was found liable for the case Susan injury in the supermarket's premises. The hip injury on Susan’s hip which was a result of the slipping over a squashed banana. The presence of the squashed banana in the premises was an outright sign of negligence and recklessness by the supermarket's staff. (Damage law)
Nickell, Joe. "Investigative Files: Not-So-Spontaneously Human Combustion." Skeptical Inquirer. Nov./Dec. 1996: 17-20. 21 Feb. 2001.
The first accident occurred on a 61-year old woman who was at a follow-up appointment after a breast tumor was removed. She felt a burning sensation and told the operator “you burned me”. She developed swelling and reddening, but the AECL declared this a normal treatment reaction and not a machine malfunction. Her condition wor...
A burn is categorized based on the layers of skin that it impacts. The superficial integumentary layer is known as the epidermis and the inner, thicker layer is the dermis. First degree burns impact only the epidermis while second degree burns extend to the dermis. A third degree, or full thickness burn, destroys both layers of skin. The damage of fourth degree burns reaches all the way to the underlying muscle and bone. For the purposes of this paper, third degree burns are the focus. Some of the most likely causes of these full thickness burns are scalding liquids, extended contact with hot objects, flames, as well as electrical and chemical sources. They are dry, leathery, and may be deep red, white, yellow, black, or brown in appearance. Initially, the patient will feel little pain as nerve fibers may be damaged (Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters [CHKD], 2007).
Negligence, as defined in Pearson’s Business Law in Canada, is an unintentional careless act or omission that causes injury to another. Negligence consists of four parts, of which the plaintiff has to prove to be able to have a successful lawsuit and potentially obtain compensation. First there is a duty of care: Who is one responsible for? Secondly there is breach of standard of care: What did the defendant do that was careless? Thirdly there is causation: Did the alleged careless act actually cause the harm? Fourthly there is damage: Did the plaintiff suffer a compensable type of harm as a result of the alleged negligent act? Therefore, the cause of action for Helen Happy’s lawsuit will be negligence, and she will be suing the warden of the Peace River Correctional Centre, attributable to vicarious liability. As well as, there will be a partial defense (shared blame) between the warden and the two employees, Ike Inkster and Melvin Melrose; whom where driving the standard Correction’s van.
The liability for negligent misstatement may arise from pure economic loss. According to Steele (2010), ‘Economic losses will be regarded as “pure” if they do not flow from any personal injury to the claimant nor from physical damage to his or her property’. The boundaries between “pure” economic loss and the loss which is “consequential” from damage were established by the Court
In the case of Kolchek suing to recover for Litisha’s injuries, she can sure under the negligence liability. Every product should be fully tested in every way possible to see if the product functions correctly and will it injure individuals. There should not have been a whole that is not covered. Like stated in our book The Legal Environment of Business, “if a manufacture fails to exercise “due care” to make a product safe, a person who is injured by the product may sue the manufacture for negligence”. Kolchek could sue the manufacture. In this case which is Great Lakes spa. Porter was just a company that was selling the product. Great Lakes spa should have taken the initiative to examine their products throughly before putting it out on the make for individuals to buy. Like in our book The Legal Environment of Business stated, “A manufacture, seller, or lesser is liable for failure to exercise due care to any person who sustains an injury proximately caused by a negligently made (defective) product.”
There are many topics that arise throughout the case with Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks Coffee is located worldwide and there are many different ways to look at this situation. The company offers a unique range of coffee, lattes, espressos, and café style drinks. The company intended to reach a specific target audience, but has ended up in many different markets and has been growing rapidly. Starbucks has greatly used the “youth appeal” strategy to gain entrance into new markets. However, such enthusiasm cannot be counted on indefinitely; other strategies are always in the works. Over time Starbucks has been able to acquire a solid brand reputation and has a world renowned company logo.
Schultz, Howard, and Joanne Gordon. Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul. New York: Rodale, 2011. N. pag. Print.
“Hot skillet moving! Hot skillet moving! Hot skillet down!”, I warn my friends in the immediate area. Upon removing my glove for further inspection of my burned hand, I notice the blisters beginning to form on my second degree burn. I sprint down to the river by the waterfall and shove my hand into the wind chilled mountain river water. The pain begins to subside from my hand after a short hour, but as soon as I remove my hand from the water, the inferno of the burn returns to my hand in an excruciating pain, therefore I plunge my hand back in to the comfort of the cold
The products of McDonalds are safely packaged when it is required for the product, in order the customer does not have any problems or and negative feedbacks to McDonalds. E.g. hot coffee cups have plastic lids on top so it does not spill or burn on the customer. Also, McDonalds ensure to offer nutritional guide of the product clearly state what the product contains.