How much money did Liebeck get from mcdonalds?
The jury found that McDonald’s was 80 percent responsible for the incident. They awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages to cover medical expenses, and $2.7 million (equivalent to $5,000,000 in 2021) in punitive damages, the equivalent of two days of McDonald’s coffee sales.
What evidence of negligence did Ms Liebeck introduce against McDonald’s at trial?
Liebeck’s Case Under the first claim, Morgan argued that McDonald’s was grossly negligent in serving coffee that was unreasonably dangerous. To prove negligence, one must show that a defendant breached a duty owed to the plaintiff and that breach caused the plaintiff damages.
What was the argument made by McDonald’s lawyer Tracy Jenks?
However, McDonald’s presentably weak argument from attorney Tracey Jenks stated that any food no matter what, if served over 54 °C, would cause a severe burn and that “restaurants had more pressing dangers to worry about and that the number of coffee spills is only 1 in 24 million cups of coffee making the settlements …
How much did lady who got burned by mcdonalds coffee get?
In 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck bought a cup of takeout coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Albuquerque and spilled it on her lap. She sued McDonald’s and a jury awarded her nearly $3 million in punitive damages for the burns she suffered.
How did liebeck say McDonalds breached their duty?
The jury decided McDonalds had a duty to serve coffee that wasn’t so hot that it could create second or third degree burns, that it breached that duty by serving coffee at 180 degrees and not realizing that someone might remove the lid and it would spill, therefore causing burns, that when the coffee spilled out it …
Why is the liebeck vs McDonald’s case useful to attorneys in selecting a jury?
That’s because those jurors were able to hear all the facts — including those presented by McDonald’s — and see the extent of Mrs. Liebeck’s injuries. Ask anyone who criticizes the case as a “frivolous lawsuit” that resulted in “jackpot justice” if they have done the same.