Yesterday, the New York Times recognized what personal injury lawyers like me have known for a long time: companies that sell food to the public “have an undeniable responsibility to ensure their products are safe.”
The editorial, titled “A Nonfrivolous Suit”, discusses a lawsuit against McDonalds filed in Virginia. This is not the famous McDonald’s hot coffee case.
In this latest lawsuit, Frank Sutton’s lips were severely burned when he bit into an extremely hot fried chicken sandwich. The next morning he noticed that his lips had bled on his pillow.
The federal District Court dismissed the suit. On appeal, the Fourth Circuit reinstated the suit. The Court recognized that diners clearly do not expect a fried chicken sandwich to contain a hot pocket of grease.
The original McDonald’s hot coffee case resulted in what are sometimes called the “Stella Awards” named after Stella Liebeck, the plaintiff in that case. According to Snopes.com, all of the cases discussed in the Stella Awards, however, are fabrications.
http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp
