McDonald's Coffee Lawsuits Return -- Twice

If you want to know what it feels like to experience deja vu and see double in one day, call up the McDonald's corporate office.

17 years after the Oak Brook, Ill.-based chain lost landmark tort case Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants and was forced to pay $160,000 to a woman who was scalded by its coffee, the fast food giant has been targeted by not one, but two more hot coffee lawsuits.

Chicago Business reports that, oddly, both suits were filed last Thursday in a court in Cook County, Ill., which comprises Chicago and its environs.

One case involved a four-year-old girl, Lynn Abdelal, who was given a cup of blisteringly hot coffee to give to her grandma, and suffered a second-degree burn when its lid fell off. Her grandmother had not intended for her to carry coffee in the first place; she had asked her granddaughter to throw away the empty cup. Part of the complaint -- which asks for $4 million in damages -- is based on the fact that the McDonald's employee served coffee to such a young child, in violation of company policy.

The other suit arose after 35-year-old Melissa Pettigrew spilled hot coffee all over her thighs, leading to what her attorney calls "horrific" burns.

QSRWeb notes that these two are far from the only hot coffee cases to be leveled against McDonald's since Liebeck, which was covered extensively in the 2011 documentary "Hot Coffee." That only makes the fast food chain's failure to eliminate the problem, perhaps via a new cup design, more exasperating.

McDonald's did recently announce that it would be revisiting its coffee cup design, but not because of safety concerns. Instead, it revealed that it was testing new paper cups as a more sustainable alternative to its current cups, which are made of styrofoam.

Comments

[Tsunami Lan]

12:55 AM on 04/24/2013

The only dumbing down is McDonalds for neglecting an ongoing issue. Correct the problem! Your coffee is never suppose to be soooo hot is causes 2nd & 3rd degree burns! People that want coffee boiling hot enough to burn your flesh off. Drink it, swallow it, swim in it, nobody cares. But don't hate the rest of us for not joining.

[Azalea Mystery]

03:59 PM on 12/06/2012

Why would you sue anyone for spilling coffee on yourself? McDonalds is not at fault because it was said that the old lady got burn because she put the coffee between her legs and tried to pull of the lid thus spilling it on herself and burning herself. Coffee is hot because you boil water to make it if you don't want to risk the chances of being burnt don't buy coffee.

[emmeaki]

02:23 AM on 04/01/2012

The coffee needs to be hot because many people put a crap-load of milk in it. If the coffee temperature was lowered then it would be lukewarm by the time the customer finished fixing it.

[mp146]

02:46 AM on 04/01/2012

It needs to be hot, but not so hot that is causes third degree burns like in the original McDonald coffee case. The woman needed skin drafts and spent a long time in the hospital.

[Tsunami Lan]

01:05 AM on 04/24/2013

I 100% agree with you. Did you look at her pictures? Omg it looks so painful and disfiguring.

[Tsunami Lan]

01:25 AM on 04/24/2013

Perhaps you should google the definition of luke warm, hot and scalding. Don't forget to look at the images. If you like your coffee so hot it burns your flesh off..then drink it. My prayers go out the child & the parent.

[emmeaki]

02:13 AM on 04/01/2012

Maybe these idiots should just switch to iced coffee.

[emmeaki]

01:53 AM on 04/01/2012

I feel sorry for the 4-year-old, but not the 35-year-old!

[robbor]

09:06 AM on 03/30/2012

their coffee is rot as well as hot

[BroskyMcChugsaBrew]

06:53 PM on 03/29/2012

It's not surprising that the suits were brought in Cook County; most of the time when you sue a large corporation its done in the state & district where the company is headquartered.

[Carla van der Meer]

01:44 PM on 03/29/2012

Note to coffee drinkers. Coffee is hot! Children should not be handed hot coffee, of course, but a lot of these lawsuits are just part of the dumbing down of the world. Someday, in the future, everything will have rounded edges and everyone will be wrapped in bubble wrap.

[charleyvldm9]

07:02 AM on 04/01/2012

Blame your 'bright' jurors in the first case, now this nonsense will comtinue.

[Dana Collesar]

10:41 AM on 04/01/2012

I saw pictures of the injury from the first case. I gasp when I saw them. This lady had 3rd degree burns and needed skin grafts. She initially wanted McDonalds to pay her medical fees and I think they offered her a very small sum of money. That is the whole reason why she sued. She should have received more than $160,000. I understand that coffee is hot, but it shouldn't be hot enough for your skin to fall off if it comes in contact with it.

[chabuka]

03:20 PM on 10/04/2012

You are proof positive that the dumbing down of Americans is working...to the Corporations glee...! Watch the movie hot coffee...look up the very graphic picture of this lady's injuries....educate your self....then maybe you will know what you speak of...next time

[rcnc1980]

11:28 AM on 03/29/2012

Enter at your own risk should be posted at all businesses. Opportunist and stupid people not allowed.

[JBS]

11:38 AM on 03/30/2012

If we outlaw opportunists & stupid people, where will corporations find CEOs?

[bikefolder32]

12:36 AM on 03/28/2012

It's part opportunistic - they know McD's has ponied up before, so then McD's beomes an easy-enough target to go after thereafter.

It's part design flaw, and part inattention of employee and customer.

That being said - even the coffee chains acknowledge that they serve their fresh coffee at temperatures that are dangerous. Caribou has a policy of asking customers who order for their children if they want a special "not-so-hot" temperature if they're ordering a kid's hot drink.

I've never been able to sip a coffee directly after it's been handed to me at these places. It always has to cool, and often starts to burn hands even with a cardboard sleeve put around the paper cup. McD's styrofoam may actually be a safer alternative, in that respect.

I don't think there's a legitimate brewing reason for the coffee to be maintained at such a high temp everywhere - it's supposed to be drunk, not admired from afar, right? But there's also the responsibility of the customer to not be goofy and put the cup in places where it's going to spill. Accidents will happen, but coffee spilled in a lap is about someone driving through and not gripping it properly. That's not really an accident unless the worker is fumbling it or throwing it at you.

[flyinghigh0905]

11:36 AM on 03/28/2012

"I don't think there's a legitimate brewing reason for the coffee to be maintained at such a high temp everywhere - it's supposed to be drunk, not admired from afar, right? "

You have a point here. This is part of the reason why I don't really like McD's coffee. Plus, keeping it so hot makes it taste like it burned.

[erb572]

10:03 PM on 03/27/2012

Winning a 4 million dollar suit, that is insane! What has the world come to!?!?!

[mp146]

02:51 AM on 04/01/2012

They didn't win it, they asked for it.

[charleyvldm9]

07:05 AM on 04/01/2012

Not the world ,its just the dumbing down of us Americans.

[vigbound]

09:26 PM on 03/27/2012

Really! Are these people that are sueing McDonalds for burns from Hot coffee Tah! Tah! Worse then that The courts letting one win. It's Coffee It's Hot! This country is sue happy. I love Mc Donalds Hot coffee, Guess what I even know it's hot. so I am careful when I take that first sip. AS for the grandmother she must be senile to let her grandchild take the coffee. All the People like that should have to pay Mc Donalds for having to raise our coffee just to pay for stupid law suits. Get a life.I like the hot coffee! I know it's Hot! I like the price! FYI If you don't like hot coffee don't go there! Second watch your grandchild and don't let them take the cup of hot coffee Fed up with the sue happy country we are becoming!

[pink21]

09:25 PM on 03/27/2012

It shouldn't matter if the McDonald's employee triple or quadruple checked the lid on the cup, you're the one about to pick it up and possibly have it spill on you; why aren't the costumers checking the lid I know I do. People need to start taking personal responsiblity you did something stupid hence you got burned, I feel sorry for the 4 yr old but grandma should have gotten up and dealt with that personally and not left the responsibilty on the employee. You get what laziness gives you. PERIOD!

[Lawrence Ressler]

09:03 PM on 03/27/2012

The problem is not the cup, it's the LID. I have bought coffee at McDonald's to put into my Thermos vacuum bottle to drink at lunch and break times at work. They have made changes to the lids to keep coffee from spilling out unnecessarily, until you are ready to drink or pour it. The real problem is that McDonald's employees do not take the time to double and/or triple check to make sure the lid on the coffee cup is sealed before giving it to the customer. Also, some McDonald's restaurants do not give cardboard cup holders because they ran out of them, and the supply truck delivery is a day or two late. Also, the best lid in the world will be in vain if the cup is not placed inside the cup holder securely (once again, it was not double or triple checked before giving it to the customer; a management training problem).

[emmeaki]

01:50 AM on 04/01/2012

If I buy coffee, I check the lid myself. Mistakes happen and I don't expect the employee at a coffee shop to babysit me and make sure the top is on correctly.

[rjsst]

09:02 PM on 03/27/2012

i dropped my ice cream once, it was very cold on my lap, my pee pee got frozen, should i sue dairy queen. this is ridiculous. hot things are hot, cold things are cold, we learn this as children, give the case to judge judy, she will toss the lawsuit out in 34.5 seconds

[Dee Dunn]

09:32 PM on 03/27/2012

LOL

[mp146]

02:58 AM on 04/01/2012

In the first McDonald's coffee case the woman got third degree burns, needed skin grafts in pretty unpleasant places and had to spend a long time in the hospital. It is not funny. Coffee should be hot, but not that hot.