Discussion for article #236044
Considering the woman in the infamous McDonald’s coffee cup suit suffered third degree burns over much of her groin because the coffee was scalding hot (much hotter than recommended in the McDonald’s manual), I’d like to see photos of this man’s injuries before the court of public opinion weighs in.
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That woman in the McDonald’s incident tried to settle for medical reimbursement with them but she had to sue because they ignored her. She got their attention in a big way after all.
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So if the stress of getting scalded activates a disease you have, are you fit for duty as a police officer?
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The lesson of the MacDonald’s case is “If you hold your coffee between your thighs, you may get hot for less fun reasons”. I get coffee all the time, and I put it in my cupholder or on the floor. Where is the common sense in all this?
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My thoughts, have a stressful job but the coffee caused the outbreak, more like looking for the deepest pockets to fleece, $$$$$$$$$$$ anyone.
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Isn’t the McDonald’s incident the reason why all disposable coffee cups and lids now have warnings that the contents may be extremely hot? As a formerly avid Starbucks drinker, i know their cups and lids have these warnings.
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emotional damage caused after the officer spilled the coffee in his lap
Because…
(a) His groin blister was the size of a watermelon.
or
(b) He finally realized it wasn’t all about the coffee but more the thrill of abusing the little guy at the Dunkin’ Donuts.
Starbucks? Is this guy a rookie or what? All cops patronize Dunkin Donuts where they will toss in a free cruller along with a coffee.
I have been getting those Reich-wing emails for years, as we all do. Been a while since I saw one taking on “liburals” and mentioning the elderly woman scaled by coffee at McDonald’s and her “trial lawyer”.
Now tou have another incident, this time the plaintiff is one of their overly-beloved cops.
What to do? What to do?
I did love this sentence: “An attorney representing Starbucks argued… that it was his pre-existing condition the caused his problems.”
Those damn “pre-existing conditions” again.
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Scalding hot liquids cause 3rd degree burns requiring a trip to the Emergency Room. That’s why restaurant regulations require liquids, like coffee, to be a temperatures below scaling ( and that, boys and girls is why we have government regulation). In the infamous Mc Donald’s case they forced chain owner to keep their coffee at scalding temperatures; and that’s why the decision against them and large punitive fines. This does not seem to be that case with this Starbucks’s incident. Just a freeloader doofus who heard the winger propaganda about McDonalds and thinks he can get a free ride on spilt coffee.
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And this guy is still a cop? If he can’t hold a cup of coffee without “popping the lid and collapsing the cup” , one can only imagine what will happen next with a doughnut. Heimlich maneuver anyone?
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The woman from the famous lawsuit had no cup holder to use. She was also a passenger in a parked car. If you must make assumptions, it’s reasonable to think that the coffee isn’t hot enough to cause 3rd degree burns.
This was long before all cars had cup holders.
But today cars have cup holders. If you hold your cup between your legs, you are asking for stuff to happen. Your own stupidity is your own worst enemy.
“the incident caused such severe stress it activated his Crohn’s disease which resulted in surgery to remove part of his intestine.”
Activated? Here is the description from the article linked to: “He claimed the injuries aggravated his Crohn’s disease and resulted in surgery to remove a portion of his intestine.”
Big difference between activated and aggravated. So he already had Crohn’s disease, which to my understanding, may result in the surgery sans coffee spill. Wife is also part of the suit for loss of “source of emotional support, her social companion and her intimate partner.”
Good luck on all this. Seems like a huge stretch to me blaming squeezing a coffee cup too hard over 3 years ago. At least they dropped the barista and the cup company from the suit. Seems like the plan is to hope that Starbucks would rather settle for the 50K. Guess they called the cop’s bluff.
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Moreover, what little I know of Crohn’s disease would call into question the consumption of coffee.
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Slippery slope to suing Krispy Kreme for the free heart disease they gave him.
Exactly. If Starbucks can prove their coffee was the temperature required by law, this guy is barking up the wrong tree.
I’m sorry his Crohn’s Disease flared up but that has nothing to do with Starbucks. He was already employed as a cop – a very stressful job, I presume. The only possible way Starbucks might be liable in any way would be if they served him in a cup that was known to be faulty.
Or holding a gun without accidentally pulling the trigger…
But seriously, those lids can be a problem. When you remove it to put in sweetener/cream/whatever, the lid doesn’t always reattach securely; you have to make extra-sure you’ve pressed it into place or it will pop off. I’ve had my hand scorched a number of times, though never to the extent I’ve considered litigation.