No, it's a case where the jury had the opportunity to "stick it to the man" rather than have people take responsibility for their own actions.
This may or may not be true; unless you were on the jury your guess is as good as mine. However, the hundreds of incidents where McDonald's seriously hurt people yet continued to serve the drink dangerously hot may have had some bearing on their decision.
Sorry, but if I buy coffee, I don't expect it to be warm. I expect it to be hot.
But do you expect it to burn you so badly that it kills nerve cells? Do you expect it to char your skin, turning it black and crunchy like a burnt steak if even a small amount is spilled? Do you expect two years of rehab as a result of spillage?
Maybe you do but most people, I believe, don't think that they are literally taking their lives in their hands when the reach for a cup of coffee.
Similarly, if you stab yourself with a knife, would you sue the manufacturer of the knife?
If I bought a knife that was advertised as being essentially like every other knife, but it turned out to be a scalpel--with no prior warning as to how intensely sharp it was, and it sliced my skin off to the bone from a mere touch--I might.
Defending such a case just makes you look foolish.
Not understanding the fact of the case will do the same.
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At the same time, most people in the world don't bend over backwards to create clever new tax avoidance methods.
True, but I firmly believe that any average person would if they could afford the accountants to figure it out, and it would be worth the time and effort.
I agree with you that the countries affected should change their laws and/or investigate Apple's methods of avoiding taxes. (And Google's methods, and those of other companies, for that matter.)
And sure enough, some countries are. In fact, the European Commission is investigating to see if Apple got a special deal in Ireland.
More recently, Italy charged Apple with moving over a billion dollars in Italian subsidiary revenue to Ireland, and just got a $350 million back payment from Apple.
I think this is the tip of the iceberg, and we'll see other countries wanting back payments and trying to get these loopholes closed.
And that's the right way to do it. I don't agree, however, that any of the companies should have to "pay back" anything. Since everything the companies do is legal and aboveboard, I don't think it fair to take what was "lost"; just fix the laws and move on.
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And, after her case, now I could no longer get hot-enough coffee, as a result having to change my taste, adding less milk into my coffee.
I don't see why not: McDonald's didn't change the temperature of their coffee, they added a disclaimer to the cup.
Stupid people blame others not treating them as careless little kids, and the invisible hands make use of the incidents, turning more people into stupid mass.
So accidentally spilling something, coffee, in this case, is enough to classify one as "stupid"? Seriously?
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Ah this is true in the USA, it's an interesting way to excuse stupidity, like the person who sued McDonalds I think it was as their coffee burnt them whilst they were driving and drinking it...
Sigh. She wasn't driving, her grandson was. The car wasn't in motion, he had pulled over and stopped. She wasn't drinking, she was adding cream and sugar.
She asked McDonald's to cover only her medical expenses. When they refused the case went to a jury. The jury found her to be 20% at fault. (They also award her ridiculous punitive damages which were reduced by the presiding judge.)