In 1992, Stella Liebeck suffered significant burn injuries after spilling McDonald’s coffee on herself. She sued, and eventually received compensation.
Much has been written about the case; a 2011 movie, “Hot Coffee“, focused on the extent to which the public’s largely unfavorable perception of the case and Ms. Liebeck was based on a significant and pervasive misunderstanding of its McFacts. (It turns out that it’s nearly impossible to develop an informed opinion about a lawsuit/litigation based only on sound bites and headlines.)
But this is relatively old news; in Internet terms it’s prehistoric. So why am I writing about it now?
Answer: A man named John Kasich is running for president. Included among the many reports about the case is this video. In it, at about the nine-minute mark, Mr. (then Representative) Kasich offers his “thoughts” on the case:
Lady goes to a fast food restaurant, puts coffee in her lap, burns her legs and sues and gets a big settlement – that, in and of itself, is enough to tell you why we need tort reform.
Uh, no.
“Tort reform” is the ostensibly benign label given to the movement – driven by business interests (including the insurance industry) – that aims to reduce injury victims’ access to the civil justice system and/or limit recoverable damages in tort (personal injury) lawsuits.
As the facts of the case clearly demonstrate, the Liebeck case is not “in and of itself … enough” to demonstrate the “need” for tort “reform”. Mr. Kasich’s knee-jerk, premature, ill-informed remarks about the Liebeck case are at least one reason why his fitness for the presidency should be seriously and carefully scrutinized.