Essay on "Liebeck V Mcdonalds in 1994"

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Essay 8 pages (2142 words) Sources: 10

[EXCERPT] . . . .

303), and I think the plaintiff's ability to successfully established liability of negligence against the defendant was not over looked by the judge and the jury.

In addition to the tort of negligence, "product liability" is another applicable law to this case that the judge and the jury based their final decision upon, which is the legal liability manufactures and sellers have for defective products that cause injury to the purchaser, a user or bystander, or their property" (Bagley & Savage, 2010, p.335). Since McDonald's was the seller of this product, and the coffee was manufactured "defectively" due to excessive heat; the high temperature of the coffee presented an unreasonable risk of injury, which indeed was the basis of Ms. Liebeck third degree burns, the judge and the jury weighted heavily on the governing law, saw photographs of the plaintiff's burns before and after skin grafting, and her weight loss, followed by a two-year medical treatment; awarded her $2.7 million in punitive damages, which the judge finally reduced to $480,000 for a combined total of $640,000.

What are the ethical issues in the cases? Do the ethical issues differ from the legal issues? If so, how?

McDonald's behavior with failing to address previous complaints and their unwillingness to deal fairly with the injured patron draws questions on their standards of ethics. Therefore, the evidence led to the conclusion that McDonald's just didn't care. McDonald's had a social, economic, legal and ethical responsibility after seven hundred complaints were made, to at least raise an eyebrow in figuring out what was happening. Regarding Liebeck's v. McDonald's case, their legal
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issues are different from their ethical issues. Their legal issues include that McDonald's should comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations of the industry, act in good faith, responsibly, with due care, competence and diligence (Cain 2008). Based on the research, McDonald's fails to abide by the legal issues of this case which was to abide by all applicable laws, and to act in good faith. It would also have been more mindful of the product liability law that protects injured consumers of any defective product and would have agreed to Ms. Liebeck's claim of $20,000 if acted responsibly. Also, the ethical issues were to act honestly and fairly to all, which again McDonald's failed terribly. It is evident that McDonald does not care for its customers based on how it handled the previous 700 complaints and also Ms. Liebeck's case; thus, their ethical issues differ from their legal issues.

Conclusion

Our legal system has numerous checks and balances and control measures in place that deter and penalize frivolous lawsuits and curb excessive jury verdicts Cain (2008). Stella Liebeck's lawsuit against McDonald's generated many strong opinions on both sides of a heated debate about America's legal system, and it helped give birth to a movement to reduce the number of lawsuits and cap jury awards, called "tort reform." (Lexis-Nexis, 2008). The case provided different examples of how the legal processes at times work to protect both the rights of individual plaintiffs as well as the corporations they sue. I strongly believe that in this case, the judge and the jury attentively listened to arguments of the two parties, the plaintiffs and the defendants, reviewed evidence provided at the time of trial, considered all applicable laws governing the case and came to a firm decision in favor of the plaintiff in the "McDonald's hot coffee case."

References

Bagley, C.E. & Savage, D.W. (2010). Managers and the legal environment: Strategies for the

21st century (6th ed.). Mason, OH: Southwestern-Cengage Learning.

Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, CV-93-02419 (1995) The Actual Facts About -- The

Mcdonalds' Coffee Case. Retrieved from the Lectric Law Library's Stacks

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm

Cain, G. (2000). The McDonald… READ MORE

Quoted Instructions for "Liebeck V Mcdonalds in 1994" Assignment:

Liebeck v McDonalds

Read and understand the case. Show your Analysis and Reasoning and make it clear you understand the material. Be sure to use the concepts of the course to show your reasoning. Summarize the situation. Dedicate at least one heading to each following outline topic:

Parties [Identify the plaintiff and the defendant and tell something about them.]

Facts [Summarize those facts critical to the outcome of the case.]

Procedure [Who brought the appeal? What was the outcome in the lower court(s)?]

Issue [Note the central question or questions on which the case turns.]

Holding [How did the court resolve the issue(s)? Who won?]

Reasoning [Explain the logic that supported the court's decision.]

Case Questions [Be sure to address and thoroughly answer each and every case question and each part of each question.]

Conclusion [This should summarize the key aspects of the decision and also your recommendations on the court's ruling.]

Include citations on the slides and a reference page with your sources. Use APA style citations and references.

Do significant research outside of the book and demonstrate that you have in a very obvious way. This refers to research beyond the legal research. This involves something about the parties or other interesting related area. Show something you have discovered about the case, parties, or other important element from your own research. Be sure this is obvious and adds value beyond the legal reasoning of the case.

Pay strict attention to quality in terms of substance, form, grammar, and context.

An Important Note: Superior papers will cite from a variety of sources (periodicals, journals-- easily accessible through our online library, Internet, textbook, other books, etc.) and will incorporate your personal opinions (if you offer them) based on your research. Mediocre papers will not offer much support for your opinions and will be less persuasive to your audience.

Next, write your paper according to the style guidelines below. Your assignment should be a 1,500-2,500 word APA style paper. It should be completed as a MS Word document, typed in Times New Roman font, and size 12. Your paper should be double-spaced with 1-inch margins all around. Make sure your text is aligned left. Before submission, be sure to perform a spell check and read over your paper carefully for grammatical errors. Double-check that you have properly cited (using APA) all of your borrowed material.

Submit your paper to the Week 6 Dropbox titled "Course Project" located on the silver tab at the top of this page.

Grading Rubrics

Category Points % Description Content 90 50% A quality paper will have significant scope and depth of research to support any statements. Relevant illustration or examples are encouraged. A quality paper will employ sound use of reasoning and logic to reinforce conclusions. All required content will be addressed and included in the proper sections. Organization and Cohesiveness 36 20% The logical order of the content will be derived from the assignment. The content will be properly subdivided into sections derived from the outline. In a quality paper, the conclusion will summarize the previously presented content. Editing 27 15% A quality paper will be free of any spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. Sentences and paragraphs will be clear, concise, and factually correct. Documentation & Formatting 27 15% A quality paper will include a title page, abstract, proper citations using APA style, and a bibliography. A quality paper will have significant scope and depth of research to support any statements. Relevant illustration or examples are encouraged. Total 180 100 A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.

Citation Help

Remember to cite your sources properly, both parenthetically and in your bibliography/works cited. If you need assistance with proper citation be certain to review "How to Avoid Plagiarism", "APA guidelines for Citing Sources Tutorial", the "APA Handbook", the "Student APA Training Tutorial", and the "American Psychological Association (APA) Website" all available in the Syllabus.

How to Reference "Liebeck V Mcdonalds in 1994" Essay in a Bibliography

Liebeck V Mcdonalds in 1994.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2012, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/liebeck-mcdonalds-1994/4283483. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.

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