Scald burn from tea
If it’s to hot to handle, it’s definitely to hot to place in your lap. I am in my late 30’s and have a difficult time in handling liquids that just came off of boiling….a woman in her late 70’s would be even less so.
As much as I don’t like to assume stuff, I’ve worked with the elderly, so I think its a safe assumption that the McDonald’s victim suffered even worse then many people because of the thinner skin that many people get as they age. I think part of what I was trying to say is that both sides had fault, though yes I do believe that McDonald’s has the greater fault.
I did meant to mention last night but forgot to in my tirade…I do think that businesses should study this matter and try to figure out safer solutions. Like Tim Hortons coming up with a better lid.
As for the woman with her mother…There is no excuse for that. I take care of my Grams twice a week, and while like anything, she gets on my nerves nothing would ever make me treat her that way.
It wasn’t even CLOSE to just off a boil in that case (just like it wasn’t in the case the OP linked), and it wouldn’t have needed to be – look at the handy chart at the bottom of the link the OP provided. In order to prevent any chance of a burn, a served hot drink would literally have to be lukewarm. Impossible. No one would buy it!
I agree, elderly people are at higher risk of terrible burns. Which is why I blame the son. McDonald’s employees are not responsible for making one person’s drink lukewarm so there’s no chance that some elderly lady doesn’t burn herself. Her son should have helped her.
I don’t think it is the employee’s responsibility, it is the company’s and it was a company policy to keep it at that temp. It wasn’t just ONE elderly woman who got hurt. If a company is serving or making something that hundreds of people have reported injury from over a number of years, don’t they have a responsibility to fix the issue? I think most companies would. Companies recall products based on consumer safety issues all the time. They could have kept the whole thing under wraps by paying the $20,000 to cover her medical bills that she had asked for before taking them to court. Surely they have insurance that would cover it. Instead they blew her off, she had to take them to court and was awarded 10x that amount. I don’t think she was blame free in this situation, but MD’s holds responsibility too. A nicer lawyer would have helped too.
To me, the person buying “hot drinks” willingly buy it knowing contents are “hot”… And companies selling “hot drinks” never forced or in any ways coerce customers into buying them… So liabilities and responsibilities solely lies on the “buyers” themselves.
Accidents are supposedly unforeseeable events…
If the companies aren’t “god” who dictates when and where to whom the “accident” is going to happen to… Why should the company selling that hot cup be held responsible???
Seriously… So many “unpure” corrupted people trying to get money from whoever they can.
I will say, it’s weird to try to sue the place, but i’ve had experience with a drive through tea burn. its not fun.
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