her grandson had stopped in the parking lot.
From numerous sites:
"By its own corporate standards, McDonald's sells coffee at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. A scientist testifying for McDonald's argued that any coffee hotter than 130 degrees could produce third degree burns. Likewise, a scientist testifying on behalf of Ms. Liebeck noted that it takes less than three seconds to produce a third degree burn at 190 degrees.
During trial, McDonald's admitted that it had known about the risk of serious burns from its coffee for more than 10 years. From 1982 to 1992, McDonald's received at least 700 reports of burns from scalding coffee; some of the injured were children and infants. Many customers received severe burns to the genital area, perineum, inner thighs and buttocks. In addition, many of these claims were settled for up to $500,000.
Witnesses for McDonald's testified that consumers were not aware of the extent of danger from coffee spills served at the company's required temperature. McDonald's admitted it did not warn customers and could offer no explanation as to why it did not."
Punitive damages are to punish corporations for egregious wrongdoing-you can't send a corporation to prison. I think they are neccesary, and I think it was justified in this case. I wouldn't give them to the victim, nor would I allow the corporation to write off the expense, but I'm not philosopher-queen(huge sigh of relief all around). As for the lap thing, maybe pour it on all the board members laps.
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