Torts and Negligence
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I agree with the court’s decision to impose punitive charges against the McDonald’s Cofee restaurant. The sitting jury awarded Stella Liebeck 2.7 million US Dollars claimed to be the compensation to her for the burns caused by the hot coffee sold to her from the MacDonald’s. Stella had ordered a cup of hot tea from her grandson’s Toyota to comfort the passenger’s seat. Although the seats did not have cup holders, the MacDonald’s were to blame for not labeling their cups to warn the customers that their coffee was extremely hot. The MacDonald’s knew very well that their coffee was hotter by some degrees against the recommended temperatures. Going by all the elements of negligence and the law of torts, it is true that MacDonald’s Hot Cofee case decision was in order.
First, there was an existing legal duty for the exercise of reasonable care of customers. The MacDonald’s could have observed this by putting stickers on the cups to notify or warn the customers of the high temperatures of the coffee (Horsey & Rackley, 2013). That way, Liebeck could not have fallen victim to the burns from the hot coffee. Here, MacDonald’s failure to exercise reasonable care to their customers (Morissette, 2008). The court ruling also followed the element of the presence of physical harm on the victim’s body. Although many argue that Stella’s case was contributory negligence and that she sustained the burns due to her negligent conduct, she knew that their coffee’s temperatures could cause severe burns within seven seconds. Yet, they did not make any effort to notify their clients.
The MacDonald’s also failed to assist Liebeck even after she made efforts to reach them out to cover her medical expenses partially even when they knew that she had sustained scars (actual damage) whose cause was their product (Perey Law Group, 2014). MacDonald’s inaction was to warn the customers about the high temperatures of their coffee that caused Stella Liebeck the burns.
References
Horsey, K., & Rackley, E. (2013). Tort law (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Morissette, E. L. (2008). Personal injury and the law of torts for paralegals (2nd ed.). Aspen Publishers Online.
Perey Law Group. (2014, November 25). Understanding the meaning of negligence. Retrieved August 13, 2020, from https://www.pereylaw.com/2014/11/25/the-meaning-of-negligence/