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There was a recent article in The New York
Times print edition that we just had to do an entry on, both because of its
skeptical bent and because it portends an excellent turn of events for the sake
of reason in our culture.
I'm sure you've all heard the story about
the woman who sued McDonald's "restaurants" for something like $2.0
million dollars because she spilled hot coffee on her lap. This story has
circulated through the media as an example of frivolous lawsuits that empty the
coffers of business and government alike; the popular assumption these days is
that people sue for everything, and if hot coffee on your lap is reason enough
to sue a huge company, then people are suing everyone for everything, no matter
how small.
The story about the woman has some details
that never seem to surface:
- she was 81 years old
- she suffered 3rd degree burns
- these burns were so bad that she required skin grafts
- McDonalds coffee is 20 degrees hotter than other
restaraunts and they have had over 600 complaints over the years about the
temperature of their coffee.
- The judge in the case reduced her award to $600,000
As we can see, the truth of the situation
is much more believable than the fiction. See the article for more
information on frivolous lawsuits; some of the revelations: they're not as
common as people have claimed and the USA does not have the highest number of
lawyers in the world.
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