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TIL In the Hot Coffee lawsuit against McDonalds,punitive damages were given due to McDonalds intentionally overheating coffee to save money on refills (www.poolelg.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/til@lemmy.world
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During the trial it was revealed that McDonald’s knew that heating their coffee to this temperature would be dangerous, but they did it anyways because it would save them money. When you serve coffee that is too hot to drink, it will take much longer for a person to drink their coffee, which means that McDonald’s will not have to give out as many free refills of coffee. This policy by the fast food chain is the reason the jury awarded $2.7 million dollars in punitive damages in the McDonald's hot coffee case. Punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant for their inappropriate business practice.

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[–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

Nah I'm the kind of scientist that actually measured the temperature of a cup of Maxwell House instant coffee. Because actual scientist test instead of just believing rando articles from personal injury lawyers.

Black (just coffee crystals and water): 88C With two spoonfuls of sugar: 80C With sugar and cream: 68C <- I drank it at this temperature, it was nice!

Feel free to peer review my findings. You only need instant coffee, a kettle and a thermometer.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    A carafe, a window, a cardboard cup, and someone sitting in a car next to the window.

    Or did this old lady walk up to a counter?

    This experiment doesn't seem too well thought out.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    So you concede the point that the temperature of the coffee was fine?

    So basically you think McDonald's shouldn't sell coffee at the drive through window. If you were saying that, then sure, maybe I can be convinced of that. But the main point of that the "coffee was too hot" is completely invalid.

    BTW what happened in reality was McDonald's didn't significantly change the temperature of their coffee (it's supposed to be hot), they improved their lids and put a "warning coffee is hot" label on the cups. You could still suffer third degree burns from dumping coffee on your groin, so heed the warning on the label and be careful with it.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    This is a stupid way of thinking.

    Making your own coffee at home, you have complete control over how safe it is.

    Buying it from a business, you expect it's not going to maim you. If a hibachi bar burns you this bad or you have equivalent injuries from dry ice at some gastro pub, the business is at fault because they should know how to prevent patrons from being injured.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    The coffee was in her possession when the accident happened. Coffee is served hot, that's just what the product is. If someone buys a knife and after the knife is safely handed to them by the employee of the store, then the customer cuts themself with the knife in their car, would you say the store didn't take appropriate measures to ensure safety by only selling dull knives?

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