How Much Would You Ask For? ( Archived) (104)

Funny you should mention that...it was the one thing that caught my attention in the initial post...

what????? She didn't "get sick" from "Taco Bell's food," she got poisoned from SPOILED food.

The restaurant has the legal and moral OBLIGATION to make sure its food is safe for human consumption.

To even begin to compare it to the analogies you used is beyond belief. Soap is SUPPOSED to be slippery. Food is NOT supposed to be spoiled.

She doesn't know how much pain and suffering she might endure in the future as a result of eating meat that the restaurant was responsible for keeping at a safe temperature. I agree that people are oftentimes too sue-happy, but one reason juries award large compensatory and punitive damages is to ensure that something like this doesn't happen to someone else. It sets a precedent for them to be forced to practice hygenic food-handling and preparation in the future.

Sheesh.

Thanks....you took the words right out of my mouth. I'm not sue happy....there are many I could have sued throughout my life, but DIDN'T. If I ask for a mere 1,000, will they attempt to make changes so that no one else become ill from eating their food? I think not.

The woman that won millions from McDonalds was someone being sue happy....good God, everyone KNOWS a cup of coffee is hot and she spilled it on herself....they didn't do that!!

I didn't even sue my ex husband....i used HIS lawyer and took much less than I could have gotten had I gotten my own attorney.

That wasn't meant to be an insulting comment by any means.....just a phrase that only meant "talking me down". I apologize for my choice of words....and if it offended anyone. It truly wasn't meant to be derogatory my any means.

Then i would say you'd have to use the same principles in this case...what is "priority" for you...and what would you gain and/or lose in a case such as this...

If your experience here is worth it to you to "take further" then thats what you need to do...and sometimes its not about the money its about the "principle"...ask yourself if you took them to court over something like this in the interest of the "general public" and won but got no "monetary" value from it...would you still be satisfied??

We are a very litigious society - that would, I suspect, be the reason for the opposition here. Of course your situation warrants some form of compensation.

On the subject of litigation, I'm a motorcyclist. I've read that in most cases more than half the cost of the helmet is due to liability. I remember a woman sued Bell Helmets - her son got drunk, got on a bike and killed himself. He was wearing a Bell that was not even strapped on. The mother got millions. Sigh.

Yes, alot of my reason here is the principle. The hospital got by with killing my fiance'. Had I been able to hold them responsible, as far as I'm concerned, the money would have went to charity.

As far as the helmet issue...you are right. It is ridiculous that people get tons of money because of their own stupidity or ignorance. It seems that the ones that don't deserve monetary awards get them and those that are truly injured through no fault of their own don't have a leg to stand on, so to speak.

Hense the 250.00 to 800.00 price tags.

No, actually, she was not. I did research about that, too, and the coffee was hot enough to cause second-degree burns. Even though she was careless and spilled it on her lap, the temperature of the coffee was enough to cause her significant injuries. Imagine what that would do to the inside of your mouth if you just took a huge gulp of it without thinking.

McDonald's had an obligation to keep its coffee at safe drinking temperatures. Obviously, anything hot like that will cause a scalding, first-degree burn type of injury, but hers were much, much worse than that.

The bad thing is, now McDonald's coffee is as cold as at "room-temperature piss."