Common Sense doesn't always prevail in court cases, but this particular case did set off a heated debate over tort reform regarding frivilous lawsuits.
In Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, the 1994 product liability lawsuit that stemmed from the woman who sued McDonalds because she was burned by hot coffee. Absurd - but she did have standing to sue and she won. The result was a law mandating the precautionary labelling of all hot beverages sold to consumers and more than $640,000 in damages to the plantiff. Despite the common-sense notion that hot coffee will burn you, the jury applied the principles of comparative negligence, and found that McDonald's was 80% responsible for the incident and Liebeck was 20% at fault.
