I know it's been a while but there's a doc called "Hot Coffee" which explains what happened. The coffee machine was actually faulty and the coffee was BOILING hot when it was served. A son took his mother to the drive thru, ordered coffee, pulled over to the side so they could add they sugar, creamer and such, she held the cup between legs as she did (which we've all done at one point or another) it spilled and she got 3rd degree burns on 16% of her body. She asked McDonalds for $20,000 for medical bills, they offered her $800.
Then they sued.
"The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages ? reduced to $160,000 because the jury found her 20 percent at fault ? and $2.7 million in punitive damages for McDonald?s callous conduct. (To put this in perspective, McDonald?s revenue from coffee sales alone was in excess of $1.3 million a day.) The trial judge reduced the punitive damages to $480,000, but did state that McDonald?s had engaged in ?willful, wanton, and reckless? behavior. Mrs. Liebeck and McDonald?s eventually settled for a confidential amount."
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