In 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck bought a cup of takeout coffee at a McDonald's drive-thru in Albuquerque and spilled it on her lap. She sued McDonald's and a jury awarded her nearly $3 million in punitive damages for the burns she suffered.

Typical reaction: Isn't coffee supposed to be hot?

And McDonald's didn't pour the coffee on her, she spilled it on herself! Besides, she was driving the car and wasn't paying attention.

Consider answering the following questions for your paper:

1. Make the case that the original offer by Liebeck-$20,000 from McDonald's to cover the medical bills-is ethically recommendable within the structure of an implicit contract. Use the concept of an implied warranty.
2. Of these three ethical structures for conceiving of the coffee-buying consumer and her protections-caveat emptor, the implicit contract, and manufacturer liability-which do you believe is best? Why?
3. Make the case that McDonald's was right in the first place. Ethically, they should pay nothing. If anyone should pay, then it should be Liebeck and her attorney.

around 2 papers