Module 5-Discussion Question #2 You have likely heard of the Liebeck vs. McDonal

Question

Module 5-Discussion Question #2 You have likely heard of the Liebeck vs. McDonalds case. Liebeck spilled hot McDonalds coffee in her lap and suffered third-degree burns. At trial, evidence showed that her cup of coffee was brewed at 190 degrees, and that, more typically, a restaurant's "hot coffee" is in the range of 140 to 160 degrees. A jury awarded Liebeck $160,000 in compensatory damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages. The judge reduced the punitive award to $480,000, or three times the compensatory award. What is your opinion on this case? Was the result reasonable? Why or why not?

Explanation / Answer

Answer:

My opinion on this case is that I agree with the lawsuit decision, because this case falls under the category of product liability and the product manufacturer needs to own the liability due to damage happened with Liebeck. Since the product was not within the specification and the temperature of coffee was around180 to 190 deg C which is much higher than the normal specification of 140 to 160 deg C. 30 deg higher than upper limit is much high and this is a major failure of the process at the McDonald.

Since the damage result in third degree burn for the Liebeck, the reimbursement is necessary for the medical treatment and damage liability. So the compensation amount given to Leibeck is reasonable.

This case looks reasonable because many manufacturers make bigger mistakes and the consumer pays the penalty for the manufacturer’s mistake by having health impacts on consumers. Thus in order to take it seriously and take appropriate preventive actions by the manufacturers, such type of decisions is required.

Product defects should not have major errors and they should be controlled within the limit and they should not be left on the mood of operator. The manufacturer needs to have better control so that such type of safety issues can be avoided and the helath of the consumers can be protected.

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