She became the poster child for “stupidity needs a warning label” and “you can sue for anything nowadays.” You might have heard the story: A woman orders a cup of McDonald’s coffee and sets it between her legs while driving. The coffee spills (of course, because that’s what happens when you put a takeout coffee cup between your legs while driving) and she receives some burns on her legs. She sues McDonald’s for $3 million and becomes rich because of her own stupidity.
That story is wrong.
We’re revisiting it today because Morgantown is experiencing its own “hot coffee” lawsuit, this one against Doughnut Joe’s, operating as Dunkin Donuts. To understand the fight this most recent victim has undergone and will continue to undergo, we’re going to tell you the truth about Stella Liebeck’s story.
In 1992, 79-year-old Liebeck was in the passenger seat of her grandson’s car. (She was not driving.) While the car was parked, Liebeck braced the McDonald’s coffee she had just ordered between her legs so she could take the lid off and add cream and sugar. The coffee cup spilled, sending the scalding hot liquid all over her legs and lap.
Liebeck didn’t just get burned — she received third-degree burns (when the skin is burned away all the way to the muscle/fatty tissue layer) over 16% of her body. She had to receive skin grafts to repair the damaged areas. The treatment wasn’t just painful; it was expensive — tens of thousands of dollars.
Liebeck asked McDonald’s for $20,000 to cover her medical expenses. McDonald’s hemmed and hawed and eventually offered her $800. So she took them to court.
During the trial, it was revealed that, at that time, McDonald’s served its coffee hotter than any other restaurant. As part of its franchise agreement, franchisees were required to make coffee at 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit. Liquid at that temperature can cause third-degree burns in two to three seconds if spilled. Other restaurants served their coffee around 160 degrees, which can still cause third-degree burns in about 20 seconds, but that’s usually enough time to wipe the spilled coffee away.
It also came to light at trial that Liebeck was not the first victim of McDonald’s scalding coffee: Between 1982 and 1992, 700 other people (including children) had reported being severely burned by the fast food chain’s coffee. In 10 years of knowing the beverage was being served at dangerous temperatures, McDonald’s did nothing.
Liebeck won her case when the jury decided the company had acted callously. The jury awarded her $200,000 in compensatory damages, but it was reduced to $160,000 because they thought Liebeck was 20% at fault (ostensibly for not holding onto her coffee correctly). They also awarded her $2.7 million in punitive damages, but the trial judge reduced it to $480,000. So even though she “won” almost $3 million in the lawsuit, she only received about $640,000. And McDonald’s lowered the temperature of its coffee to about 160 degrees.
In the years following the lawsuit, McDonald’s launched a massive smear campaign to paint Liebeck as greedy and her lawsuit as frivolous. And it worked.
Now, almost 30 years later, a Morgantown woman has experienced something similar. Her story is a little different, though: The lid to her large coffee from Dunkin wasn’t properly attached, and while she was driving, the hot coffee spilled over her lap and legs. She received second-degree burns and had to get skin grafts. Like Liebeck v. McDonald’s, the company has denied requests to cover her medical expenses, so now they’re going to court.
And like that case, we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s painted as just another frivolous lawsuit.
