Question

In: Accounting

At the end of this week, you reviewed a video of the attorney of Stella Liebeck...

At the end of this week, you reviewed a video of the attorney of Stella Liebeck in Liebeck v. McDonald's when discussing products liability. Liebeck spilled hot McDonald’s coffee in her lap, suffering 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 140-160 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.

Were the damages reasonable?
What is the purpose of compensatory and punitive damages?
Did contributory negligence play a factor?

Solutions

Expert Solution

Yes, the damages were reasonable. This is because McDonald’s displayed a sheer disregard for customer safety and the injuries sustained by the woman were very serious. McDonald’s was aware of the problem and but did not took concrete steps and actions to warn the customers. The company also failed to change the temperature at which it served its coffee.

Compensatory damages are the money that is awarded to the plaintiff to compensate him/her for the damages or the injury or any other loss incurred by the plaintiff. Thus the purpose of compensatory damage is to simply pay the person who was injured (i.e. the plaintiff). Punitive damages are imposed with the intention to reform (or deter) the defendant from engaging in activities and wrongful conduct that are similar to the ones that led to the present lawsuit. Thus the purpose of the punitive damage is to punish the defendant for the wrongdoing and deter the defendant to indulge in same type of activities and conduct in the future.

Contributory negligence is the failure on the part of the injured party to act in a prudent manner. In this case contributory negligence did play a factor. Ms. Liebeck spilled the coffee on her lap despite the cup being in her control. The cup was put by her between her knees and this was a negligent action on her part. However the court awarded the damages on the basis of comparative negligence.


Related Solutions

Scenario: In the early 1990s, Stella Liebeck, 79 ordered a cup of coffee at McDonald's. She...
Scenario: In the early 1990s, Stella Liebeck, 79 ordered a cup of coffee at McDonald's. She accidentally spilled the coffee on her lap and suffered serious burns. She sued McDonald's for negligence, among other things. Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, P.T.S., Inc., No. D-202 CV 93 02419, 1995 WL 360309 (Bernalillo County, N.M. Dist. Cut. August 18, 1994). Support the plaintiff, Liebeck and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the plaintiff to a basic negligence action only.
Please review the case of Stella Liebeck vs. McDonald's case. 1. Tell us what you think...
Please review the case of Stella Liebeck vs. McDonald's case. 1. Tell us what you think about the outcome. 2. Fair? Not fair? 3. discuss - duty, breach, proximate cause, and damages as they apply to this case. 4. Please also think about the jury system in the US. Should we do away with that? 5. What other interesting jury verdicts can you find on the internet and share it with us? Please type in the answer no handwritten. Thank...
Eighty-one-year-old Stella Liebeck was a passenger in a parked car, when she accidentally spilled scalding-hot McDonald's...
Eighty-one-year-old Stella Liebeck was a passenger in a parked car, when she accidentally spilled scalding-hot McDonald's coffee on herself. (McDonald's allegedly kept its coffee at 180 degrees, 40 degrees hotter than most people serve coffee, to maintain peak flavor). The spill caused second and third degree burns that required skin graphs and left scars. When McDonald's offered Liebeck $800 of the $2000 medical expenses she had asked for, Liebeck sued. After hearing that there had been 700 complaints about scalding...
(This question is from the Week 3 Tutorial) You have reviewed the work performed by your...
(This question is from the Week 3 Tutorial) You have reviewed the work performed by your assistant, Raymond Snow, on the audit of Tin Ltd for the year ended 30 June 20X8 and you have noted the following two independent matters: (i) In testing investments in listed securities, Raymond selected all shareholdings with a market value above $200,000 and checked them to the closing market value reported by the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) to determine the net realisable value of...
estion 1 (7 marks) (This question is from the Week 3 Tutorial) You have reviewed the...
estion 1 (This question is from the Week 3 Tutorial) You have reviewed the work performed by your assistant, Raymond Snow, on the audit of Tin Ltd for the year ended 30 June 20X8 and you have noted the following two independent matters: (i) In testing investments in listed securities, Raymond selected all shareholdings with a market value above $200,000 and checked them to the closing market value reported by the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) to determine the net realisable...
Question 1 (7 marks) (This question is from the Week 3 Tutorial) You have reviewed the...
Question 1 (This question is from the Week 3 Tutorial) You have reviewed the work performed by your assistant, Raymond Snow, on the audit of Tin Ltd for the year ended 30 June 20X8 and you have noted the following two independent matters: (i) In testing investments in listed securities, Raymond selected all shareholdings with a market value above $200,000 and checked them to the closing market value reported by the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) to determine the net realisable...
Stella the manager earns $16 per hour. The waiter works 48 hoursduring a week instead...
Stella the manager earns $16 per hour. The waiter works 48 hours during a week instead of the scheduled time of 40 hours. The overtime pay scale is time and a half, or 150 per cent of the regular wage.The overtime premium amount is:
FIN3400 In the Concepts in Action video you watched this week, what do you think the...
FIN3400 In the Concepts in Action video you watched this week, what do you think the president of the bagel company mean when they called the Atkins diet unsystematic risk (note that risk here refers to financial risk, not health risk)? Do you agree with them? Explain why or why not.
Assume this week is the end of 2018. It has been a wonderful year-end for you...
Assume this week is the end of 2018. It has been a wonderful year-end for you because your business Computer Servicing and Networking Business was doing great! But don't forget that you need to complete adjusting entities on Dec 31, 2018. Please give me one each example of two types of adjusting entries: 1. Deferred accounts 2. Accrued accounts Please feel free to read the text books, but make sure you use transactions of your own company. For example: 1....
Who should define the cost data that will be reviewed at end of phases in the...
Who should define the cost data that will be reviewed at end of phases in the project? Why is it necessary to define the elements in advance? What are the attributes of effective data? What is the one most important thing that you took away from project managment? How will that help you achieve your goals.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT