Classwork: Read the case of the spilled coffee and answer the tort questions at the end of the lesson.
The Case of the Spilled Coffee caused a lot of public debate. Some people thought that McDonalds was being unfairly punished. After all, coffee is supposed to be hot, and McDonalds was just trying to please its customers, especially those who might take their coffee to work or home before they drink it. They also thought that Stella received too much money because a reasonable person knows that coffee is hot and doesn’t try to balance it on her lap. Finally, they feared that people would try to bring lawsuits against major companies just to see if they could get a major windfall (a large amount of money, like Stella Liebeck received).
What do you think is fair? Should companies be punished when people get hurt by their products? If so, should there be a limit on how much they are required to pay?
Name:______
The Case of…The Spilled Coffee
In 1994, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck bought a cup of coffee from the drive-thru window at McDonalds. While the car, driven by her grandson, was stopped to allow her to put cream and sugar in her coffee, she balanced the cup between her knees and attempted to remove the lid. The coffee spilled, causing third degree burns to over 6% of Liebeck’s body and causing her to spend eight days in the hospital and undergo skin graft operations. Liebeck sued McDonalds for damages.
McDonalds is a large national fast food chain that served its coffee at approximately 185 degrees, despite the fact that coffee at such a high temperature is too hot to drink. At the trial, McDonald’s quality control manager testified that the sale of any food over 140 degrees creates a “burn hazard.” McDonalds had issued surveys to many of its customers and found that many of them brought their coffee back home to drink or took it to work with them to consume it there. So, McDonalds served its coffee at a higher holding temperature to assure it was still hot when it was consumed. In fact, many of the surveys indicated that customers chose McDonalds over other restaurants because their coffee was served that hot. Between 1982 and 1992, McDonalds was aware of 700 claims by people burned by their coffee.
Torts TROUBLES
McDonald’s: The Case of the Spilled Coffee
State the duty / Serve coffee at a temperature that isn’t too hotLook for the breach / They served coffee that was WAY too hot—it was 180˚!
Did defendant’s conduct cause the plaintiff’s harm? / Yes. By selling Stella the hot coffee that could cause second degree burns.
What damages does defendant owe the plaintiff? / Money to cover her hospital bills, her legal fees and for her pain and suffering.
Ke$ha: The Case of the Drunk Driver, as adapted from Street Law student textbook, p. 242 (focus: reasonable person)
Ke$ha is bartending at The Right Round, a nearby pub, because her new song isn’t selling very well. She sees Cee-lo, a regular customer at The Right Round, is clearly intoxicated. He asks her for one more round of drinks before he leaves. Not wanting to offend him in case he wants to collaborate with her on his next album, Ke$ha serves him, saying, “Let’s make this the last round.” Twenty minutes later, Cee-lo leaves the bar to go home. Just after Cee-lo pulls his car onto the highway, he swerves and hits another car head-on. Cee-lo and the driver of the other car are seriously injured.
State the dutyLook for the breach
Did defendant’s conduct cause the plaintiff’s harm?
What damages does defendant owe the plaintiff?
What do you think? Is Ke$ha responsible for the accident? Should Cee-lo be able to sue her and collect damages? Should the other driver?
Rob & Katrina: The AIDS Case, as adapted from Street Law student textbook, p. 243 (focus: causation)
Rob is has an STD. He is new to Seattle and does not want anyone to know about his illness. He meets Katrina and they start dating. They really like each other and eventually become exclusive. They have unprotected sex, but Rob does not tell Katrina beforehand about his STD. Katrina finds out later that she has the same STD Rob does after she goes to a doctor for a blood test.
State the dutyLook for the breach
Did defendant’s conduct cause the plaintiff’s harm?
What damages does defendant owe the plaintiff?
What do you think? Does Rob have a duty to tell Katrina about his condition? If he does, did he breach it, and should Katrina be able to recover damages from Rob? Would your answers change if Rob was HIV positive (being that there is no cure for AIDS)?
Milton Bradley: The Case of the Baseball Swing (focus: damages)
Milton Bradley is trying to give the Mariners a chance at a pennant win. To stay in shape, he practices his swing in the off-season. In fact, he likes to practice so much that he often practices in the game room so he can practice while he watches Sports Center highlights. One day, while practicing his swing in his game room, he loses his grip on the bat. The bat flies into the dining room and hits Ichiro’s wife’s friend in the head, causing minor injuries.
State the dutyLook for the breach
Did defendant’s conduct cause the plaintiff’s harm?
What damages does defendant owe the plaintiff?
What do you think? Sometimes the amount of damages can change. Let’s say the bat hit Ichiro’s wife’s best friend in the arm. Does that change the amount of damages? What if his wife’s best friend was a concert violinist and can’t play her violin anymore? Does that change the amount of damages?
Read the traffic infractions basics worksheet and answer question (1-3) at the end of the lesson
TRAFFIC INFRACTION BASICS
The legal name for a ticket is “Notice of Infraction” or “NOI” for short. An NOI is a determination that a traffic infraction has been committed. This determination can only be side aside with a contested hearing.
Traffic infractions are NOT criminal violations. Receiving your NOI lets you know that the State is charging you in district or municipal court for breaking a traffic law.
Each NOI gives three options. You have to select one of those options within 15 days of receiving the NOI. You can either:
1. Pay for the infraction – you admit that you committed the infraction and pay the fine as written on the NOI;
2. Request a mitigation hearing – you admit that you committed the infraction but there were extenuating circumstances that the court should know about that might convince the judge to reduce your fine. Hint: if you select this option, the judge will usually reduce the fine (at least a little bit).
3. Request a contested hearing – you want to fight the ticket! You think that you did not commit the infraction and you want to present evidence to the court to show you did not.
If you fail to respond, the court will issue a warrant for your arrest and the DOL will revoke your driver’s license. So make sure you respond! If you lose your ticket, call the court in the jurisdiction where you received the NOI (county district or municipal court).
Steps you may take before your hearing
-Hire an attorney – There are many attorneys that handle infractions throughout the state. They often charge a flat rate around $200. They are already familiar with all of the rules surrounding infraction cases so they can save you a lot of time by taking care of all this.
-Read the Infraction Court Rules – If you don’t want to hire an attorney, you will have to become familiar with these rules. The rules that apply to infraction cases are called the Infraction Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction (or “IRLJ”). The rules are very short and tell you some very important things about how your hearing will work.
-Read the statute you are charged under – Being familiar with the law you are charged with violating can be very helpful. You must identify all of the required elements of the law and see if the officer’s report supports them. If something important is missing, you may be able to show that the prosecutor has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that you committed the infraction.
-Discovery request – Under IRLJ 3.1(b) a defendant may make a written demand for discovery at least 14 days prior to a contested hearing. You must mail this discovery request to two places: 1) the court where your infraction will be heard and 2) the office of the prosecuting authority. The discovery response will include a copy of the NOI and the citing officer’s affidavit. If there is no affidavit, there is not sufficient evidence but you still have to attend the hearing and move to dismiss.
-Subpoena the citing officer – You can get the documents and instructions on how to subpoena to officer that gave you the ticket from the court where your case will be heard. After you fill out the forms, you have to either mail the subpoena to the law enforcement agency or have a third party personally serve the subpoena at the law enforcement agency’s office. This can be a risky move. If the officer does not show up after you properly subpoenaed him, the officer’s statement is suppressed and your case will probably be dismissed. If the officer shows up, his testimony can be more convincing than his report. If you subpoena the officer you get to cross examine him/her.
-Get a copy of the SMD Certificate on file with the court – Each law enforcement agency (police, WSP, sheriff’s offices) keeps certificates on file for every radar gun they use in every court in the county. The infraction rules (IRLJ) require this whole system and the courts generally dismiss cases if there is something wrong with the certificate or if there isn’t one for the radar/lidar gun used in your case.
-Plea bargain with the prosecutor – If you are not represented by a lawyer, you can make a deal with the prosecutor before the hearing. Simply approach him or her, and tell them what your case, and ask if they would be willing to cut a deal. Often the deal is to amend a moving violation to a non-moving violation for a small increase in the fee, based on your prior driving record.
-Deferred Finding – The judge has discretion to grant a deferral which dismisses your case for an administrative fee of $125. Commercial Drivers are not eligible.
Contested Hearings
Contested hearings have most of the same rules as an ordinary case in court. If there is no prosecutor, the judge will just consider the police report and whatever you have to say. If it is just your word against the officer, you are probably in trouble. If you have additional witnesses or some other evidence that you did not commit the infraction, you will do better.
The burden of proof in contested hearings is that the State must prove that it is more likely than not that you committed the infraction (the judge will call this a “preponderance of the evidence”). Certain arguments never work. If you make them, you will irritate the judge and he or she will rule against you faster than you can say “I was traveling with the flow of traffic.” Such arguments include: “I wanted to keep a safe distance between my car and surrounding cars”; “I travel on that road every day and I never speed”; “I don’t know how the officer could even see me”; “There was another car in front of me going even faster”; “I never talk on my phone while I drive but this was my daughter and I hadn’t spoken to her in weeks.”
Both sides are bound by the rules of evidence. The rules of evidence can be found online and they can be rather complicated. The main issue here is that of “foundation.” The officer’s affidavit needs to lay a foundation for the infraction you are accused of committing. Look at the statute you are charged under.
TRAFFIC INFRACTION EXERCISE:
WHAT SHOULD EACH DEFENDANT DO?
Read the following scenarios. What kind of hearing should the defendant choose?
For each problem, consider the evidence against the defendant, potentially mitigating circumstances, and whether the defendant is eligible for a deferred finding.
1. Charlie was driving on the West Seattle Bridge going 45 in a 35. A motorcycle cop with a LIDAR got a solid reading and is 100% certain it was on Charlie’s vehicle. Charlie then threw trash out his window. The officer gave Charlie a citation and told him to slow it down and get a trash bag. He has never gotten a speeding ticket before.
Pay Mitigate Contest
What other options does Charlie have?
2. Jared just bought a car from his sister. She told him all the paperwork was good to go. One week later he was pulled over. The officer told him that his tabs had expired six months ago and gave him a citation.
Pay Mitigate Contest
Is there anything else Jared should do before his hearing?
3. David was driving his commercial truck 40 mph in a 25 mph school zone when he was suddenly pulled over. The officer asked him whether or not he was aware of how fast he was going. In response to the officer’s questioning, David admitted that he had been speeding. David is going on a long haul during the time when any hearing will probably take place.
Pay Mitigate Contest
What else should David do?