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Little League home-plate helmet toss leads to lawsuit

clawdad

By clawdad
in Youth Recreation Ball

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mstaylor
mstaylor

I would specifically go to McDonalds to get their coffee because it was hotter than others. Nothing more frustrating than driving six blocks and having cold coffee. I can see the 80/20 split but the o

Texas Manny
Texas Manny

Lemme guess, the same judge that had the infamous McDonalds hot coffee between the legs will be the adjudicator on this one.   Heard about it on the radio on my way home. Absurd. The coach continued,

alex7
alex7

If the coach wants to get technical, then what was he doing out of his box close enough to home plate to get hit by a helmet that was in the air for maybe 1.5 seconds?

alex7

alex7

Posted
Posted

If the coach wants to get technical, then what was he doing out of his box close enough to home plate to get hit by a helmet that was in the air for maybe 1.5 seconds?

  • Like 1
yawetag

yawetag

Posted
Posted

What's next?  Suing a company for giving you hot coffee that you then spill in your own lap?  Oh, wait...

 

Research the story. You wouldn't be as sympathetic.

  • Like 1
Rich Ives

Rich Ives

Posted
Posted

The lady suffered severe burns in a sensitive area of her lap.. Sympathy vote by the jury.  You make coffee by heating water to near boiling (boiling if you use a percolator). It's hot. A coffee drinker should be expected to know that.

BT_Blue

BT_Blue

Posted
Posted

The lady suffered severe burns in a sensitive area of her lap.. Sympathy vote by the jury.  You make coffee by heating water to near boiling (boiling if you use a percolator). It's hot. A coffee drinker should be expected to know that.

someone recently told me she "died from her injuries."

grayhawk

grayhawk

Posted
Posted

 

The lady suffered severe burns in a sensitive area of her lap.. Sympathy vote by the jury.  You make coffee by heating water to near boiling (boiling if you use a percolator). It's hot. A coffee drinker should be expected to know that.

someone recently told me she "died from her injuries."

 

 

She was 78 and then had two years of treatment.  I feel really bad for her.  It's still not McDonald's fault.

yawetag

yawetag

Posted
Posted

Here are the basic facts of the case, as told to me by my Business Law professor, and can be verified through Wikipedia's article on it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants):

 

McDonald's coffee was much hotter than would be considered "normal." Their idea was that people didn't want to immediately start drinking the coffee, so they made it hotter to appease those clients. The temperature of the coffee was at a level that would cause severe burns in seconds.

 

The original offer from the victim was reasonable: damages from the incident, about half that for future damages, and another few thousand for lost wages. McDonald's countered for $800. They went through arbitration, which suggested about ten times the victim's original settlement offer. McDonald's balked again. The jury, in its "screw the company" mode, awarded a few million. The judge, seeing the error of the jury's ways, substantially dropped the amount. Both sides appealed the judgement, but ended up settling outside of court for an undisclosed amount. My professor said the amount was probably more than her original offer, but less than the judge's ruling; Wiki says it was less than $600,000.

 

In short, while the action of the hot coffee spilling on her was her fault, the damages wouldn't have been nearly as severe had the coffee not been so hot. The jury found McDonald's 80% liable, which is reasonable in the situation (remember that a jury is generally going to be more sympathetic to a person than a corporation). After seeing the facts, I don't consider the case frivolous. I've been in meetings with lawyers and business executives dealing with lawsuits a lot more frivolous than this one.

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scrounge

scrounge

Posted
Posted

Coffee is supposed to be heated to 200 degrees ideally for best flavor extraction. I call BS on the "substantially hotter" bunk, because not much hotter and it would actually be boiling, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't when they handed it to her. I'm sure the rest of that account is true, but I do not accept the premise, unless the standard is tepid 160 degree gas station coffee.

yawetag

yawetag

Posted
Posted

Coffee is supposed to be heated to 200 degrees ideally for best flavor extraction. I call BS on the "substantially hotter" bunk, because not much hotter and it would actually be boiling, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't when they handed it to her. I'm sure the rest of that account is true, but I do not accept the premise, unless the standard is tepid 160 degree gas station coffee.

 

From Wiki:

During the case, Liebeck's attorneys discovered that McDonald's required franchisees to hold coffee at 180–190 Â°F (82–88 Â°C). At 190 Â°F (88 Â°C), the coffee would cause a third-degree burn in two to seven seconds. Liebeck's attorney argued that coffee should never be served hotter than 140 Â°F (60 Â°C), and that a number of other establishments served coffee at a substantially lower temperature than McDonald's.

 

I can tell you that coffee is never to be served at 180°. At my job, the beverage department checks the coffee machines regularly to ensure the temperature isn't too hot.

grayhawk

grayhawk

Posted
Posted

There's more in the Wikepedia post Andrew:

Since Liebeck, McDonald's has not reduced the service temperature of its coffee.[17] McDonald's policy today is to serve coffee between 80–90 °C (176–194 °F),[25] relying on more sternly-worded warnings on cups made of rigid foam to avoid future liability, though it continues to face lawsuits over hot coffee.[25][26] The Specialty Coffee Association supports improved packaging methods rather than lowering the temperature at which coffee is served.[17] The association has successfully aided the defense of subsequent coffee burn cases.[27] Similarly, as of 2004, Starbucks sells coffee at 175–185 °F (79–85 °C), and the executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America reported that the standard serving temperature is 160–185 °F (71–85 °C).[17] Retailers today sell coffee as hot or hotter than the coffee that burned Stella Liebeck.[17]

mstaylor

mstaylor

Posted
Posted

I would specifically go to McDonalds to get their coffee because it was hotter than others. Nothing more frustrating than driving six blocks and having cold coffee. I can see the 80/20 split but the other way. I know there was more to the story, that she was severely burned and the press blew it out of proportion, the fact remains is she did a dumbass thing and got hurt. I did a similar thing and told myself I was an idiot.

Now, back to the story....He couldn't have been hurt that bad, he walked on it at least six months before having it fixed. He's a chiropractor for god's sake, in the interview he talked like he had no knowledge of the human body. He said he did everything the dr said, iced it, rested it....come on, he has medical training, he has to be more proactive and knowledgeable of his body than that.

  • Like 2
Texas Manny

Texas Manny

Posted
Posted

Lemme guess, the same judge that had the infamous McDonalds hot coffee between the legs will be the adjudicator on this one. :shakehead:  Heard about it on the radio on my way home. Absurd. The coach continued, according to reports to instruct eleven more games, work, and do all sorts of other activities long after the acheles claim was made. If anyone had their acheles tendon torn, they wouldn't be able to walk. It is the tenden that connects the foot to your leg muscles and with it torn, your foot flops like a fish, and it is extremely painful. You couldn't walk on it.

  • Like 2
mstaylor

mstaylor

Posted
Posted

Lemme guess, the same judge that had the infamous McDonalds hot coffee between the legs will be the adjudicator on this one. :shakehead:  Heard about it on the radio on my way home. Absurd. The coach continued, according to reports to instruct eleven more games, work, and do all sorts of other activities long after the acheles claim was made. If anyone had their acheles tendon torn, they wouldn't be able to walk. It is the tenden that connects the foot to your leg muscles and with it torn, your foot flops like a fish, and it is extremely painful. You couldn't walk on it.

He was injured in the summer and he didn't get it operated on until Dec.
  • Like 1
BalkHawk

BalkHawk

Posted
Posted

chiropractor gets my vote for lifetime ban!

Lol @ thread turning on a dime to discussion on acceptable temp. for retail coffee. You guys...

  • Like 1
SoCal Lurker

SoCal Lurker

Posted
Posted

I don't know any facts on what happened here.  But I do know it is common for someone who has an achillies snap to *think* something hit them, as the instant pain/snap seems inexplicable otherwise.  But if it actually snapped, it's hard to believe he did not get surgery for several months.

  • 3 months later...
siz

siz

Posted
Posted

Not even close to defending this lawsuit, but it is possible to function with a torn Achilles.  MRI said mine was 50% torn minimum, ortho called it a major rupture.  Did it in late Jan, didn't get fixed until Aug, ended up with complete reconstruction...Tommy John on my ankle.  But I BU around 15 games Apr/May/June and coached 15U until that date.

Jocko

Jocko

Posted
Posted

I'm glad they posted his business name, address, and telephone number. I hope he got bombarded with irate calls and cancellation after cancellation. What a complete d***head.

And the pussification of America continues

scrounge

scrounge

Posted
Posted

Huh, forgot about this despicable case till the thread got resurrected. In a small smidgen of justice, this parasite has dropped the suit and paid at least some token costs. If the yelp and other reviews are any indication, this nonsense cost him a pretty penny reputation and business wise...

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/04/18/4850557/little-league-coach-drops-suit.html#.U1f8o3f5PAc

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