Documentary Style
TopicalHot Coffee
The most misunderstood lawsuit in America. Susan Saladoff exposes the corporate propaganda behind tort reform—technical, substantive viewing on how the legal system actually works.
Year
2011
Type
film
Runtime
88 min
Language
English
Director
Susan Saladoff
Genres
Summary
Most people know the McDonald's hot coffee case as the textbook example of frivolous lawsuits. Almost no one knows what actually happened.
Stella Liebeck was 79 when McDonald's coffee served at 180 degrees caused third-degree burns. She asked for $20,000 to cover medical bills. McDonald's refused, despite 700 prior burn complaints. Former lawyer Susan Saladoff uses this infamous case to investigate the corporate campaign that turned it into a national joke. Through four cases, she reveals the machinery of tort reform: arbitration clauses blocking a rape victim from court, damage caps protecting doctors, corporate millions buying judicial elections.
What emerges is how everyday contracts strip away constitutional rights most Americans don't realize they're signing away.