At the end of this week, you reviewed a video of the attorney of Stella Liebeck in Liebeck v. McDonald's when discussing products liability. Liebeck spilled hot McDonalds coffee in her lap, suffering third-degree burns. At trial, evidence showed that her cup of coffee was brewed at 190 degrees, and that, more typically, a restaurants hot coffee is in the range of 140-160 degrees. A jury awarded Liebeck $160,000 in compensatory damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages. The judge reduced the punitive award to $480,000, or three times the compensatory award.

Were the damages reasonable?

What is the purpose of compensatory and punitive damages?

Did contributory negligence play a factor?