National Coffee Day Challenge!
In honor of National Coffee Day, the team at Comedian of Law is issuing you a challenge. Can you top this cup of coffee? Post your photo below if you can. But beware, our fearless leader, Joel, is a coffee carnivore, so good luck! Research shows that those who drink five or more cups of coffee per day are less likely to get cancer than those who don’t. So why play it close? Who’s up for 10?
In the spirit of this great day, our true Independence Day, we would be remiss not to point out the various legal snafus involving coffee. The McDonald’s Hot Coffee case has reached iconic status. Poor Ms. Liebeck spilled a McDonald’s hot coffee in her lap, burned herself, and sued McDonald’s for her injuries. McDonald’s refused to settle the case for the medical expenses, so the case went to jury. The jury returned a verdict for 2.9 million dollars based on McDonalds’ policy of serving coffee at 180-190 degrees, which was well above the industry average of 130-140 degrees. The court reduced the damages amount, and the parties later settled in the $600,000 range.
In case you think Mrs. Liebeck wasn’t really injured by the coffee burns to her groin area, check out these photos and this video. Ouch!!
Starbucks, the king of coffee shops, was also sued because of hot coffee. But last year, a jury ruled 10-2 in favor of Starbucks after a police officer spilled the black lava in his lap. The ironic part of this case is that Starbucks had given the coffee to the officer for free! That’s one way to say thank you, I guess! You can read about the decision here.
So in honor of today, drink a cup of coffee . . . or ten. But for the love of all that is mighty, don’t put it in your lap!
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