Finding drivers, it is the easy part but ...

Exactly.

We could fix this really quickly if we could somehow get a law passed where personal injury and class-action attorneys are not allowed to work on a percentage basis. It would take away their interest in maximizing the amount of the verdict.

Also, there needs to be a higher evidentiary standard for civil cases. And verdict amounts need to be capped to ensure that our civil court system is used as a way to make people whole, not as a get-rich-quick scheme, and not for jurors to stick it to "the big, evil corporation."

 

We arent talking about someone taking a brick of dry ice and putting it in a cooler full of water-ice, we arent talking about some redneck throwing shotgun shells in a bonfire, those would be obvious cases of the customer was inordinately stupid, we are talking about consumable items from a *fast food* restaurant.

It takes at least 10 minutes for liquid to go from near boiling to drinkable... thats not counting the fact that its in an insulated cup, so longer..., even longer if you realise the top coming off is the reason the cup became essentially structurally unsound.

when was the last time you bought food, had it served to you, but had a reasonably high chance it would seriously injure you if you tried to touch or consume it in the next 10 minutes? Now remember that this is not just a serious injury, but 3rd degree burns on your one-eyed trouser trout. Clearly YOU were at fault for being stupid in such a commonplace occurence...

Was she supposed to sit there at the window waiting out the time THEN open it to add sugar etc, THEN leave? Is THAT what you mean by personal responsibility? Or is it just MAYBE the case that mcdonalds has some modicum of responsibility?


Further down you say "And verdict amounts need to be capped to ensure that our civil court system is used as a way to make people whole"

So her initial request to settle and then lawsuit to mcdonalds for only the cost of medical and lost wages isnt what would have made her whole? And the fact that mcdonalds offered 800$ as a settlement as a slap in the face means nothing?

You are pretending that large corporations are reasonable and will do the right thing in the first place. I use the word "pretending" because no sane person older than 10 could actually beleive that.


In summation
1. Not frivolous
2. Large corporations actually DO tend to be evil, they are incentivized towards it.
3. No, when a bad actor is caught, a punitive example needs to be made, otherwise there is no disincentive to their bad actions.

 

Now we know who Jerry sung this song about….

 

That much still hurts.

 

Bullcrap, its only 0.00123684% of their market cap

Hurts is relative, its not nothing, but its largely symbolic when compared to the scale of the company

 

Good luck with that. Nearly every member of the 435 US House of Representatives and 100 members of the US Senate are either a doctor or lawyer by profession and they don't make laws that hinder what they and their friends do. Laws are for you and me not them.

 

Pay peanuts find monkeys. That and good drivers are like finding a good girlfriend. The good ones are usually taken and happy where they’re at. You might luck out and find one that’s in a bad spot but usually the ones you find are where they are for a good reason.

 

I find it ironic that those that complain the most about large civil torts would be the first in line with their hands out if it happened to their loved ones. You really cant put a price on gross negligence OR the loss of a loved one.

There has been MANY large lawsuits that have forced positive change in many industries. Criminal Justice and product and vehicle safety to name a few.

Unfortunately while we may think these settlements are large, given the scope and size of corporate assets, are these judgements really large enough to precipitate change or merely the cost of doing business?

Large corporations have very clever ways of passing these costs on to all of us. With this particular driver i would submit there was some criminal negligence involved. Why was he still driving after a positive drug test?

 

Oh I know, that's why I included the word "somehow". I think we've got about as much chance of getting that law passed as we do getting a term limit law enacted.

Of course, we voters can and should impose term limits at the ballot box, but I disgress.

 

That's why, every day, tens of millions of coffee drinkers worldwide set their cups in the cup holder to allow the contents to cool off, which is exactly what this poor woman should have done.

If it was proven in court that the lid was not properly affixed to the top of the cup before it was transferred from the McDonald's employee to the customer then there might be some potential liability on the part of McDonald's. But I don't know whether or not that was ever proven.

Every single time I have ever ordered an apple pie from Whataburger.

[/Quote]
Now remember that this is not just a serious injury, but 3rd degree burns on your one-eyed trouser trout. Clearly YOU were at fault for being stupid in such a commonplace occurence...[/quote]
If I failed to protect myself from contacting a product that I knew was going to be hot, then yes, I was indeed at fault.

As I said earlier, she should have set it in the cup holder and waited for it to cool off.

That is the amount that would have made her whole, and if I were employed by McDonald's legal department I would have settled for that amount no problem. But my statement was a blanket statement, not limited in scope to the McDonald's coffee case.

Some are, some aren't. I am just as loathe to paint all corporations with a broad brush as I am to paint all members of any particular racial or ethnic group with a broad brush. Prejudices and biases are counter to the notion of equal justice.

That's what criminal law is for.

It's disingenuous to compare a fine to market cap, as market cap is not a metric of cash flow or profitability. An apples-to-apples comparison would be comparing the amount of the fine to EBITDA.