THE MCDONALD'S COFFEE CASE: THE WHOLE STORY

Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was in the passenger seat of her grandson's car when she was severely burned by McDonald's coffee in February 1992. Liebeck ordered coffee that was served in a Styrofoam cup at the drive-through window of a local McDonald's.

After receiving the order, the grandson pulled his car forward and stopped momentarily so that Ms. Liebeck could add cream and sugar to her coffee. Ms. Liebeck placed the cup between her knees and attempted to remove the plastic lid from the cup. As she removed the lid, the entire contents of the cup spilled into her lap.

The sweatpants Ms. Liebeck was wearing absorbed the coffee and held it next to her skin. A vascular surgeon determined that Ms. Liebeck suffered full thickness burns (or third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body, including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she underwent skin grafting. Ms. Liebeck, who also underwent surgeries to remove her damaged skin and tissue, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonald's refused.

Ms. Liebeck filed a lawsuit and McDonald's was required to turn over documents relating to prior burns by their customers. McDonald's produced documents showing more than 700 claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992, including claims that involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Ms. Liebeck's. This information was important to the jury because it documented McDonald's knowledge about the extent and seriousness of this hazard.

McDonald's also admitted that it kept its coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees Fahrenheit, even though other establishments sell coffee at substantially lower temperatures, and coffee served at home is generally 135 to 140 degrees. McDonald's quality assurance manager testified that the company actively enforces a requirement that coffee be held in the pot at 185 degrees, plus or minus five degrees. He also testified that a burn hazard exists with any food substance served at 140 degrees or above, and that McDonald's coffee, at the temperature at which it was poured into Styrofoam cups, was not fit for consumption because it would burn the mouth and throat. The McDonald's quality assurance manager admitted that burns would occur, but testified that McDonald's had no intention of reducing the "holding temperature" of its coffee.

Ms. Liebeck also consulted an expert, a scholar in thermodynamics as applied to human skin burns, who testified that liquids, at 180 degrees, will cause a full thickness burn to human skin in two to seven seconds. Other testimony showed that as the temperature decreases toward 155 degrees, the extent of the burn relative to that temperature decreases exponentially. Thus, if Ms. Liebeck's spill had involved coffee at 155 degrees, the liquid would have cooled and given her time to avoid a serious burn.

In the lawsuit, McDonald's claimed that their customers buy coffee on their way to work or home, intending to consume it there. However, documents were discovered where McDonald's own research had showed that customers intend to consume the coffee immediately while driving.

At trial, the jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 for the damages she sustained by the burns. This amount was reduced to $160,000 because the jury found that Ms. Liebeck was 20 percent at fault in the spill. (Note: North Carolina does not generally allow a person to recover if they were even only 1% at fault) The jury also decided that McDonald's should be punished because of their conduct. They reviewed McDonald's financial statements for an appropriate figure that would hopefully send McDonald's a message. The jury decided to award Ms. Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages, which equals about two days of McDonald's coffee sales.

The judge later reduced the punitive award to only $480,000 - which was three times Ms. Liebeck's regular damages -- even though the judge called McDonald's conduct reckless, callous and willful. After that, the parties entered a post-verdict settlement.

By the way, post-verdict investigation found that the temperature of coffee at the local Albuquerque McDonald's had dropped to 158 degrees Fahrenheit.