I love your story about the dean's gaffe. Aren't students wonderful?

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From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk on behalf of Ellis, Lizbeth
Sent: Tue 9/7/2010 10:50 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Seeking info on "Hot Coffee" documentary



I don't know anything about the documentary.

 

A few years after the coffee burn trial, we had a dean who happened to have heard only the initial and largely erroneous "facts" of the case (including that Stella was driving while she removed the lid) and used that story in class to illustrate how lawyers have ruined the country - and Stella's grandson (who had actually been driving the car and had pulled over while she dealt with the coffee) was in the class.  Quite an embarrassment for the Dean from the stories told by students in the class.

 

Here are the two articles I have used for years - and I appear to have lost the reference for the one that is largely a reprint of the Wall Street Journal article.

 

Liz

NM

STATE

UNIVERSITY

 

 

 

 

Lizbeth G. Ellis, Department Head

NMSU Finance Department

College of Business

MSC 3FIN, PO Box 30001

Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001

http://business.nmsu.edu/finance

 

( 575-646-3201
*mailto:[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> 

The mission of the College of Business is to serve the educational needs of New Mexico's diverse population by providing quality education, conducting research, and participating in service and outreach within the global community.

 

 

 

 

From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ginger, Laura
Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2010 2:47 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE : Seeking info on "Hot Coffee" documentary

 

There is a good article from the Wall Street Journal also, which I have used in class for a long time.  It appeared on the front page of the September 1, 1994 edition.  Below is a brief blurb from the WSJ that I could get for free.  I have a hard copy of the article if anyone is unable to get an electronic version.

Laura

 

A Matter of Degree: How a Jury Decided That a Coffee Spill Is Worth $2.9 Million --- McDonald's Callousness Was Real Issue, Jurors Say, In Case of Burned Woman --- How Hot Do You Like It?

 

By By Andrea Gerlin, The Wall Street Journal, 1919 words 
Sep 1, 1994 

 

But McDonald's lawyers went on to dismiss several opportunities to settle out of court, apparently convinced that no jury would punish a company for serving coffee the way customers like it. After all, its coffee's temperature helps explain why McDonald's sells a billion cups a year.