The depressing thing for me about the hot coffee case is how many people were so keen to side with the massive corporation. Even if all the mythology for true - that the plaintiff got millions just for getting a slightly-too-hot coffee - I'd still be somewhere between on her side and indifferent. - ThreadSky

alexsaysstuff.bsky.social • 36 days ago

The depressing thing for me about the hot coffee case is how many people were so keen to side with the massive corporation.

Even if all the mythology for true - that the plaintiff got millions just for getting a slightly-too-hot coffee - I'd still be somewhere between on her side and indifferent.

Reposted from Michael Hobbes

I keep thinking about how the misrepresentation of the McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit convinced Americans that it was too easy to sue corporations — a laughable idea if you think about it for 10 seconds.

It's the same with trans kids: The scandal is that care is too hard to get, not too easy.

Comments

petergratton.bsky.social•36 days ago

It's also not stopped Trump, Musk, et al., from filing frivolous suit after frivolous suit. It's the worst of both worlds.

pja.bsky.social•36 days ago

I have at least some theoretical sympathy for someone who is heavily inclined toward personal responsibility vs. "taking the easy way out" or whatnot. Though I doubt that really animated anyone who had strong opinions on that verdict.

(And to be clear, I agree with you.)

schoenen.bsky.social•36 days ago

Goddamit, Dr. Alex - how I very much enjoyed listening to that podcast episode, but hearing @michaelhobbes.bsky.social and @yourewrongabout.bsky.social utter the phrase "fused labia" is simply a memory I'd sooner repress

hamburglarhimbo.bsky.social•36 days ago

At the time public sentiment was nowhere near as anticorporate as it is now. Merely 4 years later Taco Bell successfully appropriated Che Guevara imagery for an ad campaign. It was very easy for lawyers to sell the idea that it was a frivolous lawsuit. Also there was no internet.

pepperghost.bsky.social•36 days ago

I happen to see some random ppl in a large group discord talk about the McD coffee case. It was mostly men in the chat but I can tell you that sexism is also a big factor in driving the frivolous lawsuit narrative. “Entitled Karen sues her way into easy money.” They love easy & “bashable” stories.

mrgoodall.bsky.social•36 days ago

The coffee was not “slightly too hot.” Again, facts matter.

McD’s heated their coffee to between 180-190 degrees which is way too fucking hot to serve.

andhewolf.bsky.social•36 days ago

It speaks a lot to the way corporate ubiquity can foist problems on society, a lot of people at the time were insisting everyone knew McDonald’s coffee was insanely hot and to be careful, but if everyone knew it was dangerous why didn’t they do something about it.

mrgoodall.bsky.social•35 days ago

Exactly!

sufficientowls.bsky.social•36 days ago

Yes, the coffee was not “slightly too hot.” Which is why she said it was mythology

unlikely.bsky.social•36 days ago

she's saying even if it HAD only been slightly too hot, she wouldn't be chomping at the bit to make it harder to sue corporations based on that and it's weird that so many people were

bdoll16.bsky.social•36 days ago

this is where the words “even if”
in her statement come into play.

mrgoodall.bsky.social•35 days ago

THANK YOU

jctenton.bsky.social•36 days ago

you do not, in fact, have to go to bat for megacorps

alexsaysstuff.bsky.social•36 days ago

*were true

alexsaysstuff.bsky.social•36 days ago

Like, come on, that would make a great feel good story - "McDonalds forced to pay millions to random customer just for getting her order wrong" - I'd love that to be true, it would be hilarious.

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