The case of a cup of coffee: how a pensioner sued McDonald's for $2.7 million (2 photos)

They even created an award in her honor.





This story was recalled by the publication Unilad.

In 1992, Stella Liebeck suffered serious burns after a hot drink from a fast food chain spilled on her lap while she was in a car driven by her grandson.

The coffee from McDonald's turned out to be dangerously hot, which resulted in third-degree burns on 16 percent of Stella's body. Her inner thighs and even her genitals were burned, as the skin was burned away to the point that layers of muscle and fat were visible.

After the incident, Stella spent eight days in the hospital and underwent numerous procedures, including skin grafts. During her hospital stay, Stella lost about 20 pounds, or about 20 percent of her body weight.

Although Stella recovered within two years, the lengthy legal battle with McDonald's was widely publicized.

The client initially offered to settle the case for $20,000, which would have covered her health costs and would have been a drop in the bucket for a company the size of McDonald's. However, the fast food chain refused, offering Stella $800 after the horrific ordeal she had been through.

The case eventually went to trial in 1994, where a jury learned that 700 other people had been burned by hot drinks at McDonald's.

Kenneth Wagner, the attorney representing Stella, said, "We knew before the lawsuit was filed that the water was 190 degrees Fahrenheit, or 88 degrees Celsius.

Our position was that the product was unreasonably dangerous and should have been cooler."

The case ended with a jury offering Stella $200,000 in compensatory damages, which was reduced to $160,000. Stella was also awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages, though that amount was reduced to $480,000 and the settlement amount was kept confidential.



Stella died in August 2004 at the age of 91, although her family claimed that her quality of life rapidly declined after the coffee incident and in her final years. Her daughter claimed that "the burns and the trial took their toll" and that Stella's quality of life "diminished" after the trial.

The Stella Liebeck Award is named after her and is given annually to the most senseless court decision in the United States.

The last Stella Award was given in 2007. In 2012, the author of the award announced that it was no longer publicly available.

The case started by Stella found more and more followers, and every year the list of laureates was replenished with new names. Here are some of them:

In December 1997, a girl named Amber Carson from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, had a romantic dinner in a Philadelphia restaurant with her now ex-boyfriend. Something in his words upset her and, without thinking twice, Carson threw a glass of drink at the guy. He deftly dodged, and the even more irritated girl got up and headed for the exit. There she slipped on a drink she had spilled herself and broke her tailbone. The court decided that the restaurant was obliged to pay the victim $113.5 thousand.

In December 1997, Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, tried to escape through a restroom window to avoid paying $3.50 she owed a nightclub. She was awarded $12,000 plus dental expenses for knocking out her two front teeth as a result of her own fall from the window.

In June 1998, 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles decided to steal tires from his neighbor's car. As he began to remove the first hubcap, the owner returned to the car, turned on the ignition, and stepped on the gas. The court ordered the inattentive driver to pay $74,000 plus compensation for the treatment of Carl's arm, which was run over by a car.