At the end of this week, you reviewed a video of the attorneyof Stella...

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Accounting

At the end of this week, you reviewed a video of the attorneyof Stella Liebeck in Liebeck v. McDonald's when discussing productsliability. Liebeck spilled hot McDonald’s coffee in her lap,suffering third-degree burns. At trial, evidence showed that hercup of coffee was brewed at 190 degrees, and that, more typically,a restaurant’s “hot coffee” is in the range of 140-160 degrees. Ajury awarded Liebeck $160,000 in compensatory damages and $2.7million in punitive damages. The judge reduced the punitive awardto $480,000, or three times the compensatory award.

Were the damages reasonable?
What is the purpose of compensatory and punitivedamages?
Did contributory negligence play a factor?

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4.4 Ratings (643 Votes)

Yes the damages were reasonable This is because McDonalds displayed a sheer disregard for customer safety and the injuries sustained by the woman were very serious McDonalds was aware of the problem and but did not took concrete steps and actions to warn the customers The See Answer

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In: AccountingAt the end of this week, you reviewed a video of the attorneyof Stella Liebeck...At the end of this week, you reviewed a video of the attorneyof Stella Liebeck in Liebeck v. McDonald's when discussing productsliability. Liebeck spilled hot McDonald’s coffee in her lap,suffering third-degree burns. At trial, evidence showed that hercup of coffee was brewed at 190 degrees, and that, more typically,a restaurant’s “hot coffee” is in the range of 140-160 degrees. Ajury awarded Liebeck $160,000 in compensatory damages and $2.7million in punitive damages. The judge reduced the punitive awardto $480,000, or three times the compensatory award.Were the damages reasonable?What is the purpose of compensatory and punitivedamages?Did contributory negligence play a factor?