On Dec 8, 11:15*pm, "J. Clarke" wrote:
In article -
september.org, says...



In article ocal,
*"J. Clarke" wrote:

Yeah, we all know the story.

Apparently you don't, you just think you do.

So there's more to the story than was in the trial transcript?

The jury knows the story.

So?

And that story, in sum, is not that the woman refused to accept
responsibility for her actions, but that McD's refused to accept
responsibility for theirs.

McD had committed no action for which they should "accept
responsibility".

They certainly did. The basic facts:

McDonald’s Operations Manual required the franchisee to hold its
coffee at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit;

Coffee at that temperature, if spilled, causes third-degree burns (the
worst kind of burn) in three to seven seconds;

The chairman of the department of mechanical engineering and bio-
mechanical engineering at the University of Texas testified that this
risk of harm is unacceptable, as did a widely recognized expert on
burns, the editor in chief of the leading scholarly publication in the
specialty, the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation;

McDonald’s admitted that it has known about the risk of serious burns
from its scalding hot coffee for more than 10 years — the risk was
brought to its attention through numerous other claims and suits, to
no avail;

From 1982 to 1992, McDonald’s coffee burned more than 700 people, many
receiving severe burns to the genital area, perineum, inner thighs,
and buttocks;

Not only men and women, but also children and infants, have been
burned by McDonald’s scalding hot coffee, in some instances due to
inadvertent spillage by McDonald’s employees;

McDonald’s admitted at trial that its coffee is “not fit for
consumption” when sold because it causes severe scalds if spilled or
drunk;

Liebeck’s treating physician testified that her injury was one of the
worst scald burns he had ever seen.

McDonald’s did a survey of other coffee establishments in the area,
and found that coffee at other places was between 30-40 degrees
cooler.

Moreover, the Shriner’s Burn Institute in Cincinnati had published
warnings to the franchise food industry that its members were
unnecessarily causing serious scald burns by serving beverages above
130 degrees Fahrenheit. In refusing to grant a new trial in the case,
Judge Robert Scott called McDonald’s behavior “callous.”



Pretty damning. The part where McD admitted that the coffee was not
fit for consumption as served because it was so hot,
is particularly interesting. As is that their
coffee was 30 - 40 deg hotter than similar establishments in the area,
and that was by their own survey.



Now, you want to throw out the jury system, you're gonna have to go
bigger than usenet.

Throwing out the jury system is not the solution. *Throwing out the
ability of the lawyers to ensure that nobody with a brain ever sits on a
jury is the solution.

I've been on juries, gone through the selection process.
People get tossed for a wide variety of reasons. And the
resulting jury appeared in every way as educated as the
starting pool.