Lady spills hot coffee in her lap and sues McDonalds....coffee too hot
Part of the story I also heard was that McDonalds saves lots of cash each day by having their coffee set this hot. Coffee supposedly lasts longer and they don't have to pore out old coffee to make fresh as often. Sounds to me that a business decision was made to put people at risk to make money. (Was it the gas tanks on Pintos or Vegas that the manufacturer decided it was cheaper to pay lawsuits instead of fixing the problem of gas tanks exploding in rear-end collisions. Used to have people crying about businesses using the courts to cover their asses when consumers were being injured or killed.)
A jury of our peers decided the case of where the grandson who drove his car to the parking space where his passenger grandmother spilled the coffee. The jury deciding the lawsuit was better than the grandson going into McDonalds and shooting the manager. We don't get to shoot people we don't like because we are a civil society with courts and laws.
Sounds like some are saying that we don't need lawyers because we can trust the citizens, insurance companies and businesses to always do right by us.
A lawsuit allows a party to legally get factual information from another party. This allowed the plaintiff to get all the information about the ABS from Harley. (Or do we just suppose they are a bunch of good ole boys that will supply us everything if we just call their 800 number and politely ask for it.)
I've been on three jury trials, one criminal and two civil and have also sued. I have full respect for our judicial system, including judges and lawyers.
Cases don't always turn out the way I like but I accept it because it's a good process. And I hate it when politicians pull the wool over the public's eyes with lawsuit stories like "Man steals motorcycle, crashes, sues owner." These suits were filed but were kicked out by judges as being frivolous. The politicians would have you believe these cases went to court and all lawsuits are scrupulous and we need to change the constitution because we have ambulance chasing lawyers running amuck.
I also hear people make statements like "Hit me, I'll sue and own your ass!" Don't believe that statement. Be lucky if you get your medical, work losses and property costs reimbursed. Pain and suffering, and future medical expenses are a luxury and hard to win. (At least in California)
In California you have to go to arbitration before the courts and there are conditions set for court fees and lawyer costs for the person who loses in court versus taking an agreement in arbitration.
So in the ABS case the loser most likely pays for the court fees and Harley's legal fees if they disagreed with an arbitration settlement and went to court.