Call me Dave and slap me with the OT stick, but I have to add here that the infamous coffee lawsuit is not quite what a lot of people understand it as being.

The lady who scalded herself did so with a cup of coffee heated to 180–190 °F (82–88 °C) which Mcdonalds continued to do despite over 700 reports of people being burned by over-heated coffee in the previous decade including settled claims for more than $500,000. It was not industry practice to serve coffee that hot (other establishments were shown to serve coffee less hot) rather it was a requirement dictated by McDonalds to their franchises, despite the accidents.

She scalded herself badly (third-degree burns on 6% and lesser degree on 16% of her body) and stayed in hospital for 8 days while she had skin grafted.

She requested $20,000 from McDonalds, having incurred $11,000 in medical costs. They offered her $800. Only then did she sue, asking for $90,000.

The initial award of punitive damages of $2.7m was a surprise to all concerned, but was calculated as 2 days of sales of coffee revenues.

It was excessive, clearly, and I question the merit of the argument that it was too hot (I don't think cool really works for brewing coffee) but hey, there you are.

Oh, and I don't think anyone would spill coffee on them because it was hot