Now I completely understand America

[Ripsnort]

Hey, speaking of which, how about that 'divorce' between Firestone and Ford! Whew, that one got ugly!

Now there, my friends, is a justifiable lawsuit (in regards to manufacturers safty)

[Staga]

At least I want my coffee hot (100 meter walk from our cafeteria to my office).

Maybe they should sell two kind of coffees in States:
Already cold for people who can't take care of their self and hot for others. Of course you need to get a licence first to buy hot coffee.

[Nifty]

Originally posted by Karnak:

If the solution to the problem cost 50 Million dollars, then it wouldn't be reasonable.  But the solution was inexpensive, they knew there was a problem, and they did nothing.  Lawsuits are designed to guard against that kind of behavior.

They are not intended to reward somebody who intentionally hurts themselves with a product or who ignores common sense repeatedly and get hurt.  Those people are just idiots and should get nothing.

Then give the majority of the money taken from the company and give it to a charity or something, and definitely NOT the lawyers.  I agree that the lady should have had her medical bills paid, plus partial loss of wages if she missed work due to the coffee being too hot.  As it is, a lawyer will go for as much as they can get, because the greedy bloodsucking beeyotches want their percent of the "winnings."  I disagree with damages being given to alleviate mental distress.  Damages should be to 1) pay for medical costs, if any;  2) pay for lost wages due to the incident, if any;  3) pay the lawyers a MODEST fee, not a percentage of total winnings; and 4) punitive damages (I think that's the right word) should go to a charity of some sort.  This way, you still get the punishment to the company, the victim still gets what they deserve, the lawyers finally get ONLY what they deserve, and some organization that benefits EVERYONE gets financial help.  

This will never, ever happen because of the inherent greed in our nation.  People that sue aren't thinking "this will punish the company into making their product safer,"  they're thinking "this is gonna get my dumb bellybutton RICH!"  Lawyers are thinking "we're gonna get a very nice percentage outta this one!!!" or "they might make me a full partner after this cut!"

[Karnak]

Staga,

Coffee at 180 degrees will take an average of about 500 seconds to cool to a tempature at which it is consumable.  Thats not cool to a cold level, thats cool to the hotest point at which you won't scald your mouth.

Coffee at 165 degrees is still to hot for consumption, but will not cause burns when it comes in contact with skin.

I am not suggestion that coffee be sold cold, just that it should have been served at a reasonable tempature.

Let me ask this, when you buy coffee now do find that it is too cold?  If your answer is yes you can blame that lawsuit, if the answer is no then why are you complaining?

Why do you think corporations should not be expected to take reasonable precautions that their products are safe in forseeable accidents?

Nifty,

I agree with you on that.  The rewards should not go to either the lawyers or plaintifs, other than costs of medical care(or a portion thereof) and compensation for pain and lost wages.

[Staga]

Heh I'm glad I live in Finland where coffee sold in cafeterias is still hot.

Is the coffee served in States already cooled down or do you have signs in coffee mugs saying:
"Warning: Hot coffee inside of this mug. If used unproperly may cause injuries. Handle with care."
   

In that case it was the customer who made a mistake thus suffering injuries.
What do you expect this kind of behaviour from courts lead?
-Someone is playing with his gun and shoots himself to foot. It sure wasn't manufacturers fault but maybe there should be a mechanism that prevents shooting gun if barrel is pointing 45 or more degrees down?
-Someone is driving a highway 100miles per hour(In Montana  ) and slides out of the road. It was not manufacturers fault person was speeding but maybe that nice Buick should have speed governor which limits speed to 40mph when its raining?

At least your lawyers don't had to search new jobs as long as your courts give decisions like in that coffee case    

[ 06-07-2001: Message edited by: Staga ]

[Ripsnort]

Staga, you forget, this is not the "Land of the Free, and home of the Brave" since the Dem's have had their way over the last 40 years...its now "Land of the leaches, home of the irresponsible"  

[Karnak]

Staga,

See my post responding to -lynx-and see if you can reason out why your to counter arguments aren't counter arguments.

BTW,
The old lady thought that she bore some of the responsibility, that's why she went to McDonald's asking only for them to pay some of her medical bills and nothing for pain and suffering.  It only went to the courts because they told her to get lost.  McDonald's only lost because it was demostrated that they were aware of the problem, that there was a reasonable solution and that they did nothing to address the known saftey hazard.

I agree that people do not take enough responsibility for their own actions, but I think that extends to corporations as well.

I think we'll simply have to politely disagree on this issue.

[Karnak]

Staga,

One more thing, I'd be curious what the tempature is that coffee is kept heated to in Finland.

Perhaps you could ask one of the places where you buy coffee?