During the past 15 years, everyone’s heard something or other about a woman who recovered millions of dollars after she spilled hot coffee on herself at a McDonald’s. The case was widely held-up as an example of a frivolous litigation against corporate America and played an important part in energizing efforts to pass so-called “tort reform” legislation.
Was this case as frivolous as it sounds? Is it possible to recover millions of dollars by spilling coffee on yourself?
Hot Coffee is a documentary premiering this month (June 2011) on HBO that introduces you to Stella Liebeck, the elderly Albuquerque, New Mexico woman at the center of the McDonald’s coffee controversy. Taken from Ms. Liebeck’s perspective, the documentary shows what happened when Ms. Liebeck and her attorney took on one of the biggest companies in the world. Watch and judge for yourself whether Ms. Liebeck’s case against McDonald’s was really frivolous.