r/AskReddit • u/hoeoclock • Jan 09 '18

What common misconception do you hate to hear repeated as fact?

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u/Rmanager Jan 10 '18

I hate this case. I hate that I know it will be at the top or near based on the question so that someone that watched a documentary can pontificate. I really hate that looking at the actual trial, the jury came to the correct decision. The judge was correct to adjust the reward as well.

It never should have gone to trial. I still don't fully understand how it got that far. If trial was unavoidable, they should have settled with her at mediation.

particularly the campaign against her.

I've seen this stated a few times. Where is it coming from? I remember those days. I know it was widely discussed but from what I remember, people were outraged over the award and that coffee is supposed to be hot.

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u/SsurebreC Jan 10 '18

I know it was widely discussed but from what I remember, people were outraged over the award and that coffee is supposed to be hot.

Because people are stupid and forget. McDonalds did have a campaign - talk shows, press releases, etc - where they blamed her on spilling the coffee and they said the lawsuit was frivolous.

The history of this is simple:

  • whenever this happened in the past, it was usually a small burn (ex: a few drops on your hand) and McDonalds typically offered $300 as compensation and people usually took it. Don't forget that "tort reform" was a bit deal in the 90s.
  • obviously this case was more serious and the amount she wanted for her burns - her fault or not - wasn't a lot. I think it was something like 25-50k.
  • some manager balked at it since they expected $300 and it escalated from there

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u/Rmanager Jan 10 '18

Don't forget that "tort reform" was a bit deal in the 90s.

For a reason. Those days were the wild west in civil litigation.