NEWS: More Juice, Mommy!

However we are talking about something that is Applebee's fault. Even if the burnt crotch was worse, it's really the fault of the woman who spilt it on herself, not the restaurant who served their coffee hot; the coffee was hot on purpose, the drink was spiked by mistake.

Besides, if you can get tens of thousands of dollars from a corporation, why not? I mean, fuck ethics, we're talking some bling bling!

"It's all about the Hamiltons baby!"

(sarcasm or not? who knows)

no, it was mcdonalds fault for making their coffee so extraordinarly hot that it could cause second or third degree burns.

So it seems like no one should be liable. No big deal. Get over it. No wonder we have criminals running the white house, congress and the courts. The public attitude is "no big deal". Unless the server gave the kid a blow job. Then we could impeach them all. What's wrong with the server? They can't tell the difference? Spiked juice? Give it a rest! And as allergies go, what if the kid was allergeric to alcohol? Not to mention, serving minors is illegal. It's like, you know, the law or something? I bet the mom is itching to use free coupons.

As for the crotch burning, that was a McD's issue. They were totally guilty of violating known safety regulations by over 30 degrees. Third degree burns are no joke. And the jury that came up with what I thought a very reasonable punishment for a billion dollar corporatioin to take notice was nothing more than the amount McD's makes one day in profits for all its coffee sales. Now there's an unreasonable figure to a chain that often pays minimum wage with no benefits.

Bottom line: when mistakes are made that threaten the safety of the public, punishments should ensue, not free coupons. It may sound a bit funny, but it could have been a much more serious issue in the end. It's not hard to get alcohol poisoning when one is so small...(don't go there with the open ended sarcastic suggestions...you know what I mean).

(ed for sp. and additions)

[Edited on Jan 09, 2006 11:08PM]

when I worked at Applebee's, if you ordered a regular glass of juice, it was served in the same glassware as a LI would be. but the server is a moron not to notice what she's serving to a kid. I think that she should be fired, but I don't think it's unreasonable to ask that Applebee's share some responsibility (especially as it could have turned out way worse for the kid than it did) for hiring such a moron. (BTW, the bartender should be fired, too, if he or she placed the Long Island with the wrong drink order).

How about the responsibility of the parent? I've enjoyed a few LI's over the years and I don't recall thinking "gee, that looks just like a glass of apple juice".

Woah! A friend of mine on this very site just told me the same thing happened to his kid brother at Applebee's! (Only I think it was supposed to be lemonade and it was some other mixed drink).

They should settle out of court and change how they're beverage delivery system. Something's out of whack.

STFU.

Just to chime in, this is true. There was also a truckload of evidence that there was a sweeping pattern of such injuries that McDonalds had been ignoring. And there was also the fact that the woman who spilled the coffee was in and out of the hospital multiple times to treat her quite severe injuries (third degree burns which required skin grafts in her genital area). All the while she was being assured by McDonalds that they were going to help her with the bills, and in the end McDonalds ended up offering her IIRC somewhere around $800.

In the end, they did end up paying her a decent amount (480K). But then they proceeded with a subtle disinformation campaign, which is why, today, people use this case as an example of a gratuitous product liability suit.

They did end up lowering the temperature of their coffee.

Well, I think Applebee's sucks ass anyway.

Just another reason not to eat there.

he's a fuckin' donut...sorry inside joke. fuckin' kids are into everything these days... i could use a long island right now....hell i could be drunk right now...i just said the kid was a fuckin' donut for god's sake time to go sleepy by...the kid's fine...was the server,,,michael jackson

nah..the parent should go for the balls..shoot for 5mil and retire..fuck chain restaurants anyway

Apple juice is served in a large glass with a slice of lemon? Or does Applebee's not do the lemon? That would have been my first clue. I know accidents happen, but it just seems so odd.

I'm surprised the kid drank it. Long Islands are STRONG. A lot of adults I know can't sip them without grimacing.

I'm glad he didn't get alcohol poisoning. Man...what a scare.

Hi, my name's Mike, I'll be your waiter

"Okay, little Seth, I know it tastes bad, but drink it all down like a good boy....mommy needs some money."

It seems that at this restaurant, the kid got a sippie cup, so I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would pour a Long Island into it. And it also explains why the mother wouldn't have been able to see that there was anything wrong with the drink.

My guess is that the bartender poured a LI Tea and an apple juice into two glasses. The server then poured the wrong one into the sippie cup.

That would make sense. I didn't even think of that.

Honestly, though... we're talking about accidentally getting a kid drunk. Absent other injuries as a result of his drunken-ness, I doubt that we'd be talking about a great deal of money in the award.

Agreed. It upsets me that that case is what everyone thinks of when they think of frivolous lawsuits. The lawsuit and damages evenentually paid were quite reasonable.

That was the first thing I thought too. Maybe she figures a federal court will be more likely to toss the lawsuit and $75,000.01 gets you into federal court (assuming the plaintiff and defendants are from different states, of course).

Edit: I take it back. The second story says she filed in federal court. So my guess is that she pled damages of "over" $75,000, or something to that effect, to get into federal court.

[Edited on Jan 10, 2006 by nonbillable]

I, too, would like to chime in about how grateful I am that the McDonald's story truth is actually gaining recognition. When people spew it as an example of dumb lawsuits, it angers me to no end. It's a basic fact-checking issue.

I'm going to Applebee's and ordering me up an apple juice...

This will turn out to be bullshit.

My roommate worked at Chili's (c'mon, don't laugh) and served a woman a draft beer, which she had ordered. After she drank THE ENTIRE BEER, she told him that she had ordered an O'Douls, not a Michelob. He apologized and offered to give her the correct order, whereupon she asked him "If he could give her back 10 years of sobriety because she was a recovering alcoholic", and went on to get him fired and tried to sue Chili's for $50,000 americano dolares.

Sound familiar? Wendi's chili anyone? I bet some folding money that it will turn out she brought the alcohol with her, or ordered it herself.

-caellum

How the hell do you give a kid a Long Island Iced Tea by ACCIDENT? I can understand mistaking a Bailey's Irish Cream for chocolate milk or something, but a LI Iced Tea is kind of complicated...