I think if accidents happen and if it is provable that it was preventable, the lawsuits should remain with just paying the medical bills and the loss of income.
About that McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit.. the result should be that the customer never gotten a dime for spilling coffee on herself. No damn good reason for having this case won! Everyone KNOWS hot coffee is hot, period. If the McDonald employee threw the cup of coffee on a customer's lap, then that is reasonable to have a lawsuit.
Actually, if I recall about that lawsuit (perhaps there have been more than one) the employee dropped the cup of coffee when handing it to the person through the drive-thru window. It was negligence on the employees fault and I think it was a valid lawsuit because the victim was burned badly. The point is that the employee was at fault, although an accident. I remember one time when I was eating and a restaurant and a waitress lost control of her tray and I caught a glassful of coke in the face. Fortunately it was cold and there were no injuries but it had it been something hot...
I'd like to see more done in regards of stopping frivalous lawsuits instead of limiting the legitimate ones.
Just a few examples (taken from the MARYLAND CITIZENS AGAINST LAWSUIT ABUSE) A great organization BTW
A Baltimore jeweler was sued for $3.5 million after a former client was robbed of her diamond ring after leaving a grocery store. The woman claimed that the jeweler, who had appraised the ring two years earlier, was responsible for the armed robbery. According to her reasoning, the jeweler appraised her ring too low, and if she had known the real value, she would not have worn the ring to the grocery store. The suit was finally thrown out of court after two years and $7,000 in legal bills for the jeweler.
A Parkville, Maryland, resident sued McDonald's for $1 billion after he was refused extra sauce for his chicken nuggets.
In Walkersville, Maryland, a golfer filed a $500,000 lawsuit against a friend and the friend's country club after he was handed a mustard-covered mouse as a practical joke during a golf outing.
Remember playing dodgeball as a kid? Today, while adult dodgeball leagues are gaining popularity, schools around the country including districts in Maryland are banning dodgeball. The likely reason is included in an article in The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. Neil F. Williams, a physical education professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, wrote, "Generally speaking, the game is a litigation action waiting to happen."
In late 2003, Will Wright, a contestant and winner of $48,400 on the Wheel of Fortune sued the popular game show for injuries suffered during the taping. Mr. Wright alleged that he received a back injury when host Pat Sajak "leapt at his body with unbridled enthusiasm with a full-weight embrace."
A man in West Bend, Wisconsin threatened to sue a local cable company blaming the company for his addiction to television, his wife's weight problems and his children's laziness.
A Pennsylvania woman put a cherry Pop-Tart in the toaster and then forgot about it when she drove her children to school. Upon her return, smoke was billowing from her house and firefighters were already on the scene. She and her husband then proceeded to sue the Kellogg company for the damages to their home.
