Infuriating mythology of runaway juries

OK, I finally lost it. I got an email that perpetuates the myth of excessive awards from runaway juries. I took the time to manually copy everyone on the distribution list and hit back with this:

Hi everyone,

Normally, I don't respond to forwarded emails like this. But given my history with the legal system from both sides (I'll explain in a bit), I feel I have to do my small part to set the record straight.

First of all, this award, the Stella Award, is full of made-up stories.
You can check out the veracity of this and any other 'urban legend' by checking
it out at http://www.snopes.com/, and this myth in particular at http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp (the stories change each year, but the fiction remains.)

Secondly, I feel very sorry for Stella. Please take the time to learn the truth of this maligned and totally blown out of proportion court case at http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm. For those too lazy or too rushed to take the time to go to the website, here's a brief
synopsis:

• McFact No. 1: For years, McDonald's had known they had a problem with the way they make their coffee - that their coffee was served much hotter (at least
  20 degrees more so) than at other restaurants.
• McFact No. 2: McDonald's knew its coffee sometimes caused serious injuries - more than 700 incidents of scalding coffee burns in the past decade have been settled by the Corporation - and yet they never so much as consulted a burn expert regarding the issue.
• McFact No. 3: The woman involved in this infamous case suffered very serious injuries - third degree burns on her groin, thighs and buttocks that required skin grafts and a seven-day hospital stay.
• McFact No. 4: The woman, an 81-year old former department store clerk who had never before filed suit against anyone, said she wouldn't have brought the lawsuit against McDonald's had the Corporation not dismissed her request for compensation for medical bills.
• McFact No. 5: A McDonald's quality assurance manager testified in the case that the Corporation was aware of the risk of serving dangerously hot coffee and had no plans to either turn down the heat or to post warning about the possibility of severe burns, even though most customers wouldn't think it was possible.
• McFact No. 6: After careful deliberation, the jury found McDonald's was liable because the facts were overwhelmingly against the company. When it came to the punitive damages, the jury found that McDonald's had engaged in willful, reckless, malicious, or wanton conduct, and rendered a punitive damage award of 2.7 million dollars. (The equivalent of just two days of coffee sales, McDonalds Corporation generates revenues in excess of 1.3 million dollars daily from the sale of its coffee, selling 1 billion cups each year.)
• McFact No. 7: On appeal, a judge lowered the award to $480,000, a fact not widely publicized in the media.
• McFact No. 8: A report in Liability Week, September 29, 1997, indicated that Kathleen Gilliam, 73, suffered first degree burns when a cup of coffee spilled onto her lap. Reports also indicate that McDonald's consistently keeps its coffee at 185 degrees, still approximately 20 degrees hotter than at other restaurants. Third degree burns occur at this temperature in just two to seven seconds, requiring skin grafting, debridement and whirlpool treatments that cost tens of thousands of dollars and result in permanent disfigurement, extreme pain and disability to the victims for many months, and in some cases, years.

Now, why do I care about this? First of all, I was an electronics engineer at Joerns Helathcare (Sunrise Medical) and went through training on how to be a witness in trials. We manufactured equipment that would be used in patient environments (hospitals and nursing homes) and had to be aware of the potential for lawsuits. We trained at the University of Wisconsin - Madison with an expert witness as our teacher. Within the first few hours he completely and forcefully exploded the myth that our system of justice was out of control and anti-business. The truth is, 99+% of cases are settled justly. What we have done with liability limitation legislation is 'thrown the baby out with the bathwater' and made it all the easier for businesses to do the wrong thing in the pursuit of profit.

Secondly, my son was killed in a car wreck caused by a drunk driver. In a strange sense I got off easy because he was killed instantly. But can you imagine a person being maimed for life being limited to a $250,000 maximum punitive damage award? How far will that get you? What kind of message does that give to a multi-billion dollar enterprise? It's cheaper and more profitable to do the wrong thing.

Please, please, please, educate yourselves about the truth and try to vet these emails before you continue to fan the flames of ignorance. There are many unscrupulous people who would just love to keep all of us in the dark to improve their bottom line.

Alrighty then, flame off...

Have a nice day!

Joe Ebel

ORIGINAL MESSAGE

It's time again for the annual Stella Awards!

For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck, who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico where she purchased the coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right?

So... these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy.

Here are the Stella's for the past year:

7TH PLACE:

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict,considering the running toddler was her own son.

What???

6TH PLACE :

Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

Go ahead, grab your head scratcher.

5TH PLACE :

Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT, days on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance compan y must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish.

We should all have this kind of anguish. Keep scratching. There are more.

4TH PLACE:

Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chainin its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.

Grrrrr Scratch, scratch.

3RD PLACE :

A jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. Whatever happened to people being responsible for their own actions?

Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there. There are only two more Stella's to go.

2ND PLACE :

Kara Walton of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a nightclub in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms.Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies' room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the nightclub had to pay her $12,000, oh, yeah, plus dental expenses.

Go figure.

1ST PLACE :

(May we have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos, please.)

This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set.

The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down, $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.

Are we, as a society, getting more stupid? Or is it just the juries the lawyers select?

PLEASE...

IF YOU HAVE A BRAIN
IN YOUR HEAD OR HAVE GOOD COMMON SENSE...

START SHOWING UP FOR JURY
DUTY!

PLEASE!

END OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE