Hot Coffee Documentary Analysis

The documentary “Hot Coffee” explores the case in which an elderly lady filed a lawsuit due to a third degree burn. The Mcdonald's coffee case gained a great deal of attention, as it showcased how individuals are taking advantage of legal system with their access to easily start a lawsuit. The issue towards tort reform was brought upon the issue of the case, as individuals believe that justice was thrown out the window. Media then began to attract a great deal of attention, with the payout of “2.7 million dollars” for the damages and medical suspenses upon the old lady. A warning that pointed out the dangers that an individual can cause to a company, as a simple spill of coffee can turn out for the worst.

The elderly women in the documentary was named Stella Liebeck, who was in her eighties during the occurrence of her accident. Stella was sitting in her car one morning with a Mcdonald's Coffee on her side, as she would unexpectedly deal with a situation in which she would spill her coffee all over her lap. The spill caused a third degree burn on her lap, in which she asked McDonald’s to pay for her medical expenses.

The media however didn’t cover the aftermath of the case, as the judge reduced her payout to 480,000 dollars due to Stella also being in fault for her actions with her accidental spill. The community were not fond of the issue being covered worldwide by the media, as the issue of tort reform started to become the topic. The community defined the problem as an tort deform, as the elderly woman's actions shouldn’t have gone that far; especially without a placed limit of the amount of money injured people receive in a lawsuit. The lawmakers than began to take action, as they began to fix a few bad habits with the protection of tort reform, in which they used the “hot coffee”