Scenario A - The MacDonald's case

Scenario B - The Andrea Christidis case

Scenario A

In Chapter 10, we read about a case in the United States where McDonald's was ordered to pay Stella Liebeck nearly $3 million in punitive damages because Stella was severely burned when opening a cup of coffee that she had placed between her legs. Watch the video entitled The Story Behind the Infamous McDonald's Coffee Case & How Corporations Used it to Push Tort Reform at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2ktM-lIfeQ and answer the following discussion question.

Do you agree with the jury that McDonald's should be ordered to pay "punitive damages" i.e. that McDonald's should be punished for its actions? What is the role of punitive damages and should it have been applied in this case? Do you agree with the quantum of damages awarded by the jury?

Scenario B

In October 2015, Andrea Christidis was struck and killed by a car operated by Jared DeJong, a then 24-year-old London man. At the time, 18-year-old Christidis, a first-year health sciences student was walking home from a study group near Talbot College. She died in hospital two days after the crash.

In 2016, a judge sentenced DeJong to five years in prison with a 10-year driving ban.

The family filed a civil suit in October 2017, claiming the University Students' Council, Western University, DeJong and his father are liable for Christidis' death and its consequent damages.

Review the articles below. What is the basis for Western University's defense? Do you agree with this approach. Is it ever not appropriate to examine a victim's actions in a civil law suit, and if so, when?

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/drunk-driver-who-killed-western-university-student-gets-5-years-in-prison-1.2949061

https://westerngazette.ca/news/family-of-student-killed-by-drunk-driver-suing-western-usc/article_997faa48-3917-11e8-bb70-dbc818a044dc.html

https://westerngazette.ca/news/drunk-driver-the-spoke-also-to-blame-for-student-s/article_f1c0beda-1374-11e9-89e5-57c266933d2f.html

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-ontario-western-university-lawsuit-andrea-christidis-1.4986979\]