1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,960 Speaker 1: Hello, delicious friends, and welcome to Who Did What Now? 2 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: The history podcast That's not your history class with me 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: your host, Katie Charlewood, history Harlotte and reader of books. 4 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,959 Speaker 1: Part of me is really tempted to just get like 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: a bunch of my friends and acquaintances and mutuals from 6 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: all across the globe to just do their own little 7 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: who did what now? Like what it? Just like have 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: that and snippet that in in the beginning of every episode, 9 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: because like that would amuse me. Nobody else probably, but 10 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: I'd find it funny and I wouldn't tell you whose 11 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: voice is who, so like if it was somebody, you'd 12 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: be like, do I do I know that voice? It's 13 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: just my own amusement and I might never do it, 14 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: but I think it's funny. But it is my birthday month, 15 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: because apparently that's a thing, and so I decided to 16 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: use that as an excuse to make the theme of 17 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: this month stuff Katie likes to talk about. And considering 18 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:07,839 Speaker 1: my official area of expertise, my speciality, some might say, 19 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: is the rise of sensationalism and the use of print 20 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: as propaganda in the late modern period, one would assume 21 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: that misinformation disinformation, sensationalism and propaganda in history would be 22 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 1: something I'm interested in and you would be correct. And 23 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: so that's like this week's particular theme. Now it is 24 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: my birthday months. My birthday is later on in the month, 25 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: so I will be one year older and one year 26 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: closer to death. And I've had people dming and asking 27 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: like do I want something? Can I send you a thing? Listen, 28 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: if you want to send me a card or whatever. 29 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: My care of address is on the website. It's there. 30 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: You can go look at that and do what you 31 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: want to do there if you want to do some 32 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: good and put some like good in the world out there. 33 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: I have a fundraiser on my Instagram which is linked 34 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: to a food case in LA. There's also a link 35 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: for the Burless Call of Fame if you want to 36 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,080 Speaker 1: donate there. If you really want to get me something. 37 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: If you really want to get me something, one my 38 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: PayPal is there. You can donate to my Smitty Little 39 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,119 Speaker 1: Dress fund. But if you do particularly want to get 40 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,959 Speaker 1: me something specifically that isn't a weird copy of Frankenstein 41 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: you've discovered somewhere, because I collect copies of Frankenstein. If 42 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,799 Speaker 1: it's not that give vouchers for like what Katie did, 43 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: butterers and snatch glam use. You know. I'll put links 44 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: for all of this stuff in the description down below, 45 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: and you guys can do what you want with that. 46 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: And remember, this is a dark time of year for 47 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: a lot of people, Like it's tough, like a lot 48 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: of shit's going on in the world. And I'm not 49 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: telling you to be nice, but I am suggesting the 50 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: ab kind and chicking on your pals make sure they're 51 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: doing okay. There's a lot of people out there right 52 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: now that are barely Try and water. And if you 53 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: can be there for someone, do that. And if you 54 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: need to reach out to people, do that too. Like 55 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: your friends are more considerate and caring than you're worrying about. Anyway, news, 56 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: I have news. Also, that's enough human emotions for a moment. 57 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: The London Show. There are still a couple of tickets left. 58 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: If you haven't got your tickets for the London Show 59 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: this Saturday, get them, come see me. We'll have a 60 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: fun time. I may even have fun facts in the 61 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: bosom again. It's now become a thing when I talk 62 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: about anything sad, and it's all about a great imposter 63 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: this week, so it's going to be super super fun. Yes, 64 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: and other shows. The Dublin Show information should be coming 65 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: out soon. And again, if you're listening to this at 66 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: the day of release, then the Belfare Show will have 67 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: just been announced as well. When I know what you're thinking, 68 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: you're thinking, Katie, it's been four full minutes. Quite your jibble, 69 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: Jabba in fact me, in fact you I will. But 70 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: first we've got to get our sourceng Our sources are 71 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,280 Speaker 1: Urban Legends and Stella Libok and The McDonald's Coffee Case 72 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: by Ted Frank. The McDonald's Coffee Cupcase, Separating mcfacts from 73 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: mcfiction by Fine Law, Distorting the Law, Politics, Media, and 74 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: the Litigation Crisis by Michael McCann and William Halden Kramer. 75 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 1: Versus javel World by Mark B. Greenley, Lessons from Libeck 76 00:04:53,560 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: by Denny G. Rutherford. The twenty eleven documentary Hot Coffee 77 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: A Matter of Degree How a jury decided that the 78 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: coffee spill is worth two point nine million by Andrea Gerlan. 79 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,919 Speaker 1: We also have articles from the American Museum of Tort Law, 80 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: the Legal Information Institute, the Journal of Consumer and Commercial Law, 81 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: and the poll Lag group. I used it doing comfortably good. 82 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: Then let's begin. So I was Hammond and Holland over 83 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: what exactly I was going to cover this week of 84 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: for like misinformation, because I knew I wanted to talk 85 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: about something that had been misrepresented not only through history 86 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: but also in like popular culture and the media and 87 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: stuff like that, and something I heard about when I 88 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: was younger and that I had been misinformed about and 89 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,919 Speaker 1: then learned about it a later stage. That's what I 90 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: wanted to do. And I wanted to do something a 91 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: bit more modern, because we'd been in sort of the 92 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: Middle Ages and the early modern era like for a 93 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: good bit. You know, we haven't gone much further than that, 94 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: and so I thought, let's jump. It's time jump a 95 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: little bit. And I also have a soft spot for 96 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: women who have been misrepresented in history. And it also 97 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: led to this concept that America was full of frivolous lawsuits. 98 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: And yeah, so this is when I wanted to talk 99 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: to you about still alibic versus McDonald's, Like this was 100 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: huge when I was younger, Like I remember this being everywhere, 101 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: like even across the pond, even where I was from. 102 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,799 Speaker 1: I held a bit this also forgive me my voice 103 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 1: is a bit scraggly at the minute. I am drinking 104 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: my throat coat, Sahar. If you're listening and being good, 105 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: so yes, still alibic. The women who sued McDonald's for 106 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: coffee being hot sounds frivolous, doesn't it. And that is 107 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: by design. And this is from an era when comedy 108 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: is still punched down right. This was commonplace and countless 109 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: jokes were made at this woman's expense. The women who 110 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: sued McDonald's for their coffee being hot. It's ridiculous, it's silly. 111 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: It's something very easily mocked. But the truth behind the 112 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: matter a story more shocking than the headline would lead 113 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: you to believe. And this is a story about Stella Libic. 114 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: Stella Libek was a seventy nine year old retired department 115 00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: store clerk and lifelong Republican. This conservative, geriatric granny is 116 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: in the passenger seat of a nineteen eighty nine Ford Probe, 117 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: driven by her grandson Chris. It's the twenty seventh of 118 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: February nineteen ninety two in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the 119 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: duo pull into the drive through window of a McDonald 120 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: on five zero zero one Gibson Boulevard Southeast. She orders 121 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: a forty nine cent cup of coffee and an egg 122 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: McMuffin forty nine cents coffees. I mean, it's still a 123 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,319 Speaker 1: bad coffee because it's from McDonald's, but also a forty 124 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:47,200 Speaker 1: nine cent coffee in flesh and inflesh lads. So she 125 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: orders her coffee, she orders her McMuffin, and her grandson, Chris, 126 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: he parks the car the Ford Probe so that his 127 00:08:55,840 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: gran can add her milk and sugar to the coffee. Now, 128 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: something about the Ford Probe is that it did not 129 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: have cup holders. Car manufacturers had started putting cup holders 130 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: in automobiles from about nineteen eighty three, but even into 131 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: the nineties these were shallow. They were poorly placed, or 132 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: i'm gonna say frail, poorly constructed, with some even being 133 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: like these wobbly things that you attached to the side 134 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: of the car door. Now, the Ford Probe it did 135 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 1: not have cup holders of any fashion. So like it 136 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: was made in eighty nine, but still hadn't quite made 137 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: its way there yet, right, and it's nineteen ninety six anyway, 138 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: before cup holders were probably considered by the majority of 139 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: car manufacturers, especially in the US. So Chris he parked 140 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:00,959 Speaker 1: the car. He's in the parking lot of the McDonald's 141 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: and Stella. She's got her coffee cup and she puts 142 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 1: it between her legs, like many of us have done 143 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: with a beverage when we're trying to stuff with our hands. 144 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: We've like slotted it between our thighs, holding it in 145 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: place so that we can, you know, use her hands. 146 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,880 Speaker 1: So she's got the coffee cup between her legs, McMuffin 147 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: in one hand, and she's using her free hand to 148 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: remove the lid of the coffee cup so that she 149 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: can add her milk and sugar, because they would just 150 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: give you the coffee black and you had to add 151 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:42,200 Speaker 1: like the bits and pieces. And so she pulls a 152 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: little too hard and the lid is off, but the 153 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: coffee cup flips, spilling the entire contents over her thighs. 154 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: And this coffee was hot, and not just oh dear, 155 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: that's some hot coffee. This is scolding hot. The temperature 156 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: was one hundred and ninety degrees fahrenheit, which is ninety 157 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: degrees celsius. Now water boils at one hundred degrees celsius, 158 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: so it is very nearly boiling hot. It's simmering hot. 159 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:27,960 Speaker 1: It's scolding, and unfortunately for Stella, she's also wearing sweatpants 160 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: because she's an American in America, so that's what they're 161 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: called there. So I suppose for anyone not from that 162 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: area who doesn't know what sweatpants are, it is a 163 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: athleisure trouser. It's soft and full, it's not form fitting, 164 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: sort of like we'd call them tracks, two bottoms, tracky bottoms, 165 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: joggy bottoms, joggles. I don't know another name for them. 166 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: If you know a name for them, just add it 167 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: in the comments, because I think that's all I know. 168 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,199 Speaker 1: And the thing about sweatpants, especially sweatpants made back then, 169 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: is they were made of cotton, the purpose of which 170 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:17,199 Speaker 1: was to absorb like the natural juices from the body, 171 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:21,280 Speaker 1: so it was to absorb sweat. That's why they're worn 172 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,680 Speaker 1: in athletics and other sporting stuff. So yeah, the cotton 173 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: fabric absorbs the coffee soaking the sweatpants and holding that 174 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,800 Speaker 1: one hundred and ninety degree fahrenheit coffee to her skin, 175 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: Stella unsurprisingly screams. It is a sound that her grandson 176 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: Chris had never heard. Before like out of her mouth 177 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: or anyone else's. And it first he thinks she's just overreacting, 178 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: that is, until she gets nauseaated, goes into shock and 179 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: passes out from the pain in this young fella right, 180 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: he's there. He's just been driving his grandmother about. He 181 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: pulls in to the McDonald's car park so she can 182 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: have her coffee. Next thing you know, she lets out 183 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:22,319 Speaker 1: an ungodly scream and then passes out in the passenger 184 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 1: seat of his car. So like like he's already in 185 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 1: an unknown situation, he manages to leap out of the 186 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:37,680 Speaker 1: car and pull her unconscious body from the vehicle, and 187 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: like quick as fuck thinking, pulls her sweatpants off, like 188 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 1: pulls the bottoms off, and he's got like towels in 189 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,959 Speaker 1: the boot of his car, the trunk of his car, 190 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,560 Speaker 1: and he ends up wrapping her in it. Like quick thinking, 191 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: he manages to wrap her in the towels, gets her 192 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: back in the car, and he drives to the hospital 193 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 1: like hell for leather. And when Stella gets to the 194 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: hospital and she is like she's brought into the emergency unit, 195 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: she's seen by the doctors, and one of the doctors 196 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: he says that it is the worst burn case that 197 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: he has ever seen, like in all of his tenure 198 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 1: right in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Now, now I'm fairly certain 199 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: that doctors there are used to burns. I just but yeah, 200 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: this doctor says they are the worst he's ever seen. 201 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: And you can see the photos, by the way, and 202 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: the photos are horrific. Like I've seen skalds and water burns. 203 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: I've had. I had one when I was a kid, actually, 204 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 1: when my dad was supposed to be looking after me. 205 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: He wasn't doing that. And I was in the kitchen 206 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: and the kettle was boiling, so an electric kettle. So 207 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: there's a plastic kettle, it has water in it, it 208 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: is boiling. It has been left unattended with me. So 209 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: I climb up onto like the counter. Sort I'm sidebarring 210 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: here for a second. So I climb up onto the 211 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: counter and I go to get something. I don't know. 212 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: Maybe I was trying to help make a couple of 213 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: woozy Maybe I was looking for cookies hymns to say. Anyway, 214 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: one thing led to another and I fall off the 215 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: counter with the kettle on top of me, and I 216 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: end up like with a big skald like down my 217 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: leg and I remember going to the hospital because my 218 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: gran actually used to work in a pediatric buns unit, 219 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: like she'd retired at this point, but she was always 220 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,640 Speaker 1: the one who took me to the hospital. I remember 221 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: this many times, so like for all my stitches and 222 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: every dodgy thing that I managed to get myself into. 223 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: I was a sick kid but also accident prone, so 224 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: the hospital knew me well now I were sitting there 225 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: and all I can remember about that specifically is I 226 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: remember telling, like I don't know my brothers that my 227 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: leg looked like lasagna and that was the only way 228 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 1: I could describe like what my skin looked like at 229 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 1: the time. I don't remember much after that, but yeah, 230 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: that was that was a moment. So anyway, back to Stella, 231 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: the seventy nine year old grandmother with the worst burns 232 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,400 Speaker 1: the doctors in this hospital have ever seen, and she 233 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: spends a grand total of eight days there. And the 234 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 1: reason she spends only eight days there is because she 235 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: cannot afford to stay there any longer. A woman who 236 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: has worked her entire life, yeah, her daughter basically becomes 237 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: her career in order to get her to and from 238 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:27,000 Speaker 1: the hospital for like three weeks of skin grafts, which 239 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 1: are excruciating. By the way, Like this is a painful procedure. 240 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: She should have stayed in hospital for the length of this, 241 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:39,880 Speaker 1: a procedure that she required because of the damage done 242 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:44,119 Speaker 1: to her body, right, but she couldn't afford to. Like 243 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: that is shocking, like on its own, before we get 244 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: into the rest of this, that's fucking shocking. Stella Libec 245 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:59,160 Speaker 1: had third degree burns over six percent of her body, 246 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: with second degree burns over sixteen percent. That's twenty two 247 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,439 Speaker 1: percent of her body. Twenty two percent of her body 248 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: is burned from a cup of MacDonald's coffee. So, okay, burns, 249 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: I should probably give you some context if you don't 250 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: know how the burn degree works. So, first degree burns, 251 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 1: they are superficial, so they're red, there's no blistering. It 252 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: affects like the epidermis, like the outer layer of skin. 253 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:42,119 Speaker 1: It's painful, but it heals like three to seven days, 254 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: and there's there's no scarring. So things like like light 255 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,560 Speaker 1: sunburn would also be considered like a first degree burn. Now, 256 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: the second degree burn, it affects the epidermis and the dermist, 257 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,360 Speaker 1: so like the first and the second layer. It's sort 258 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: of like you've got these shiny red blisters. There's a swollen, 259 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: painful you've got blanches with like pressure. So if you 260 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:11,160 Speaker 1: touch it, it goes from like red to white and 261 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: it can go yellow or white actually, and that lasts 262 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:22,240 Speaker 1: like three to eight weeks, like maybe maybe a little 263 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: bit more. And this can scar like you can get 264 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 1: scarred from a second away burn, and there's a lot 265 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: more depth through it, like it goes deeper through the layers, 266 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: and third degree burns they go even deeper still, So 267 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:43,240 Speaker 1: this affects the epidelmas, the delness and the deeper tissue. 268 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: So you've got white brown sort of coloring of the skin. 269 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: There's no blanching, it's kind of leathery. It does scar, 270 00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: you've got scarring, you've got the skin contracting, and it 271 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:05,159 Speaker 1: really requires skin graphs, so like you need this in 272 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 1: order for that to heal because it is so deeply 273 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: damaged and so over the course of her treatment, so 274 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: three weeks, over the course of three weeks, still a 275 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:25,880 Speaker 1: Libeck lost twenty pounds, which is kilogram's nine point one kg, 276 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:32,640 Speaker 1: which was nearly twenty percent of her body weight. And 277 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:39,399 Speaker 1: she was permanently disabled for two years. Now. I don't 278 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,640 Speaker 1: mean to be a negative nelly, but health and safety 279 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:47,679 Speaker 1: exists for a reason, and there is no valid reason 280 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: for it to be procedure to make a beverage that 281 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 1: is so hot that it would permanently disfigure someone and 282 00:20:55,240 --> 00:21:00,439 Speaker 1: paralyze them for two years. Still, a libec writes a 283 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,120 Speaker 1: letter to McDonald's saying that they should check their coffee 284 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: machines because maybe it's just that specific location in Gibson 285 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: Boulevard Southeast, but it's probably best to check out the 286 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 1: rest of their machines, as McDonald's is standardized by design, 287 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: you know, just to make sure that this doesn't happen again. 288 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: Which I'm pretty sure we can all agree that, you know, 289 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: that's quite reasonable, Like, yeah, let's please make sure that 290 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: no other people have to get skin grafts on their 291 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:38,480 Speaker 1: thighum buttocks, you know, and are permanently disfigured and paralyzed, 292 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: you know, because of this, So stella. She also requests 293 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 1: that the multi million dollar corporation cover her medical bills 294 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,439 Speaker 1: and the time her daughter had to take off work 295 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: to care for her, you know, so again, fairly reasonable. 296 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:00,719 Speaker 1: It was like ten and a half grand cover like 297 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: the medical bills that she'd had, and like another two 298 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 1: and a half for the future ones, and then you 299 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,560 Speaker 1: know the additional salary that her daughter had lost, so 300 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:16,160 Speaker 1: like eighteen thousand dollars altogether, like I think it added 301 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: up to. And so she was like, please, now, McDonald 302 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:28,199 Speaker 1: the multimillion dollar corporation respond to her letter, and guess 303 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: what they offer her the large, large sum of eight 304 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:38,560 Speaker 1: hundred dollars. And so the seventy nine year old grandmother 305 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: and retired department store clerk said fuck this for a 306 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: game of soldiers and gets herself an attorney s read. 307 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,040 Speaker 1: Morgan was an attorney in Houston who had worked on 308 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: a case of another woman severely burned by McDonald's coffee. So, yeah, 309 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,880 Speaker 1: another case. Yes, So clearly this has happened before. This 310 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: is a non incident. So they're aware that this is happening, 311 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: and he's dealt with them before, and so Morgan he 312 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: reaches out to McDonald's to try and settle, and so 313 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: he initially throws out the offer of ninety grand, so 314 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:27,400 Speaker 1: ninety thousand dollars to settle that covers medical bills, pain 315 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: and suffering loss, of work, and of course his sweet 316 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: sweet lawyer's fay Am McDonald's ignores them, and so the 317 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 1: day before the lossuit he reaches out again. For this 318 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 1: time he's up to the antic because he's like, no, no, 319 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 1: you had your chance to go on the lower end 320 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 1: of the scale, but now three hundred thousand, right, So 321 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,120 Speaker 1: he'd thrown out three hundred thousand for them to settle, 322 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: expecting they'd come back, and so they've had a wee bit, right, 323 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: and like afterwards he said, like he would have settled 324 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: for one hundred and fifty grand, right, he would have 325 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 1: gone for one hundred and fifty k done, right. He 326 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,959 Speaker 1: was putting the big number out there to get lesser 327 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,439 Speaker 1: because he knows what these people are like. And again 328 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: Morgan's offer is ignored, and so on the eighth of 329 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 1: August nineteen ninety four they go to trial. And it's weird, 330 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: like it's a weird trial because normally there's one person 331 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: being like guilty not guilty. This didn't happen. There's no 332 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 1: disputing the facts of the case, right, This is why 333 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: it's strange. The facts are A. McDonald's coffee is too 334 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: hot and b still alone. Ibex spilled coffee on herself. Right, 335 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: that those are the main facts of the case. No 336 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:12,280 Speaker 1: one is disputing those facts. Both the prosecution and the 337 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: defense are agreeing that those happened. So the prosecution discovered 338 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:24,199 Speaker 1: that McDonald's required all franchises to hold coffee between one 339 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,400 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty and one hundred and ninety degrees fahrenheit, 340 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: and they argued, again quite reasonably, that there was no 341 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:41,119 Speaker 1: reason for coffee to be warmer than one hundred and 342 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: forty degrees fahrenheit sixty degrees celsius, which anyone who's ever 343 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:50,680 Speaker 1: done a food hygiene course will tell you that's the 344 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: temperature that safely kills off bacteria. So one hundred and 345 00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: forty degrees fahrenheit sixty degrees celsius. Yes, so when you're 346 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 1: washing your hands, you should be washing your hands in 347 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 1: sixty degree water, because you know, if you're going to 348 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 1: be prepping food or I don't know, scrubbing in for surgery, 349 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 1: those are the two things you need. Right, So there's that, 350 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 1: So there's no reason for anything to be hotter than that. 351 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: And so the prosecution, right, they traveled around testing temperatures 352 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:32,320 Speaker 1: of theirs and other establishments. Right, So they're going round 353 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: and they're checking the temperature of like the takeaway coffee, 354 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,560 Speaker 1: the coffee to go. They'll checking the temperature in like 355 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 1: all these different like businesses because they want to contrast 356 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: to compel so that they've got you know, the comparison, right, 357 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 1: So they do that and they're like, yeah, one hundred 358 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: and forty degree fahrenheit doesn't need to be any hotter 359 00:26:55,600 --> 00:27:00,040 Speaker 1: than that. That's what X, Y and Z do. So 360 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 1: during the trial, like it is discovered that Mickey D's 361 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:15,000 Speaker 1: had settled over seven hundred burns cases, Like you have 362 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:20,360 Speaker 1: seven hundred burn cases. You have settled seven hundred burn cases. 363 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 1: So if seven hundred cases have come forward, just imagine 364 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: the ones that didn't, who didn't think to hire a lawyer, 365 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,360 Speaker 1: who couldn't afford to hire a lawyer, who couldn't come forward, 366 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: who maybe you know, suffered from their injuries and didn't 367 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:44,639 Speaker 1: think there was another option. Like your company received seven 368 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: hundred burn cases and you don't think, maybe I'll just 369 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: reduce the temperature, like what So one of the execs 370 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:03,119 Speaker 1: is questioned on why, like why have coffee at a 371 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 1: dangerous temperature in the restaurant, Like why would you do that, 372 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,879 Speaker 1: which again, I mean, I feel like a broken recade heil, 373 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:17,640 Speaker 1: But I feel like that is yet another reasonable question. Hey, 374 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,400 Speaker 1: why have you got this product for human consumption that 375 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: you are keeping in a temperature that is dangerous to humans, 376 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: especially if it comes into contact with their body, which 377 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: is fairly important for human So yeah, and so this 378 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:47,920 Speaker 1: motherfucker right. His response is just like, well, there are 379 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 1: more dangerous things in the restaurant, Like, are there? I'm sorry, 380 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Is the hamburgler gonna leap over the counter 381 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: and beat me with a bag of frozen hash browns? Like? No, 382 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,120 Speaker 1: that's not a risk when you buy something from a 383 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: McDonald's restaurant. Now, the direct quote is, actually, people don't 384 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 1: drink coffee straight away. They drive for twenty minutes then 385 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: drink it. No, simply put, no, that's not a thing. Right. 386 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:31,120 Speaker 1: I leave a coffee shop. I go to a little 387 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 1: independent coffee shop called Brosof. It's very good. It's run 388 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: by two brothers, hence the name. One of the brothers 389 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: makes better coffee than the other. I will leave it 390 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: for them to argue amongst themselves who it is. I 391 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: don't get. They don't listen to this, but buy your 392 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,719 Speaker 1: coffee and brossof if you're in letter Kenny donego by 393 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:56,360 Speaker 1: the way, shout out product placement. No, I fuck anyway, 394 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,120 Speaker 1: it's not it's not an ad. They just make my 395 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: coffee four days a week, five of a have to 396 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,720 Speaker 1: do things on a Sunday. But yeah, I am drinking 397 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: that coffee as soon as it is in my hand. Now, 398 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: I am drinking that coffee as soon as it is 399 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 1: in my hand. Now, I'm old enough and ugly enough 400 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 1: to know better, and so I know by the feel 401 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 1: of the cup if that's gonna take me a minute 402 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: before I can drink it. Like, I am drinking that 403 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: coffee as soon as it is in my hand. Well, 404 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 1: that being said, right, I'm old enough and ugly enough 405 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 1: to know better, so I know that it gets to 406 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: a point where I can feel the cup and know 407 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: if the liquid inside roughly is safe for me to consume. 408 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 1: Because listen, a scolded tongue is going to do me 409 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: no good, right or anyone for that matter. But yeah, 410 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 1: people buy the coffee to drink the coffee like Otherwise 411 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,480 Speaker 1: I would just make coffee at home and consume it there, 412 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: even though I drink tea at home. But that's neither 413 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,120 Speaker 1: here nor there. So yeah, people the coffee to drink 414 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: the coffee. Now, another one of these motherfuckers swere to 415 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 1: christ one of the McDonald's lawyers. He's interviewed in Newsweek 416 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: and on the record, he says, first person accounts of 417 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: Saundry women whose nether regions have been scorched by mcd's 418 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 1: caffe might be well worthy of Oprah, but they have 419 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: no place in a cord of law like this is 420 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: very much using the media to twist public opinion, to 421 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: sort of paint her as like a silly woman, and 422 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:44,040 Speaker 1: to make fun of the fact that her growin her thighs, 423 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 1: her buttocks, right, that these have been damaged and disfigured, 424 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: and that she's had to suffer painful skin grafts. You know, 425 00:31:53,520 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: she's been paralyzed for two years and this very we're pugnant. 426 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:05,080 Speaker 1: I'd call them a demon, but I feel like demons 427 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 1: would have much better manners. Oh, they just make me 428 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:14,280 Speaker 1: so angry, right, So in court, right, another shitty thing 429 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: they do is in court they tried to argue that 430 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: she wouldn't have had such severe burns if she had 431 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: younger skin. I'm sorry you're shitting me. If her skin 432 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: was younger, she wouldn't have been as damaged. So that's 433 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 1: that's okay, even if that was the case, Right, even 434 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:40,959 Speaker 1: if that was the case. One, how much younger are 435 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,800 Speaker 1: we talking here? Like, I'm sorry, but how many ten 436 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,520 Speaker 1: year olds do you have in nineteen ninety two that 437 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: are drinking black coffee from McDonald's, right? First of all. Secondly, right, 438 00:32:55,680 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: even if being younger is relevant to how severe the 439 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 1: damage was to her body, you're basically just admitting that 440 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: you don't care if elderly people are hurt because of 441 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 1: your actions, right, Like, oh, it wouldn't been as bad 442 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 1: if she was younger, but we're not going to try 443 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 1: and do anything to protect this elderly person. And that's 444 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 1: the thing when it comes to her injuries. Right. So again, 445 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: like we had a doctor in the hospital saying that 446 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: it was the worst burn case that he had ever seen. Right, 447 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: And one of the jurors like, after seeing the images 448 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: of her injuries, it had such an impact on him, 449 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:48,160 Speaker 1: Like after seeing this, when he gets home, he tells 450 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:57,719 Speaker 1: his wife and daughter to stop drinking coffee. Right. So 451 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 1: the jury they deliberate for four hours, so they go 452 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,920 Speaker 1: they do their deliberation and they come back with a 453 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:10,640 Speaker 1: two point nine million dollar settlement. That's two hundred thousand 454 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:15,480 Speaker 1: for medical expenses and pain and suffering. But this is 455 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: reduced by twenty percent because she spilled the coffee. So 456 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: this is reduced from two hundred thousand to one hundred 457 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:29,319 Speaker 1: and sixty thousand dollars because, like, she spilled it. But 458 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,720 Speaker 1: even if she spilled it, it should not have caused 459 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 1: this much damage. So, like there's this whole health and 460 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:39,799 Speaker 1: safety thing. Like how health and safety works for like 461 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:45,040 Speaker 1: products and goods is they're designed in a way that 462 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: they're meant to be idioproof is the best way to 463 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: describe it. It's so that even someone who doesn't know 464 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: what they're doing should be protected. So, like I saw 465 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 1: a thing recently and it was a jar of matches, 466 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:01,359 Speaker 1: all right, So it was a jar matches and had 467 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:04,640 Speaker 1: like a little like flat lid, and the striker is 468 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:09,440 Speaker 1: on the side of the jar. Now, if the striker 469 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: is on the side of the jar and they've taken 470 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:14,359 Speaker 1: the lit off the jar to strike the match, as 471 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:18,320 Speaker 1: they strike it, a spark comes off the lip, match 472 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,239 Speaker 1: falls into the jar full of matches and the whole 473 00:35:21,239 --> 00:35:26,360 Speaker 1: thing goes a flame, right like, Now, that shouldn't happen. 474 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: One if you're going to have something that's an open top, 475 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:33,959 Speaker 1: the striker should be on the bottom. But I don't 476 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,120 Speaker 1: have that here. As someone who lives who used to 477 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:38,879 Speaker 1: live quite rurally, but now I live in a house 478 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 1: that also has like a stove, I have bottles of matches. 479 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 1: And the reason they sell them as a bottle and 480 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:52,520 Speaker 1: not a jar is because you know, it's harder to 481 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: put it in, and a lot of these will have 482 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 1: the the striker right at the bottom so that you 483 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 1: have to turn it upside down, you know, and therefore 484 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:04,560 Speaker 1: won't get near any of the other matches. So it's 485 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:07,239 Speaker 1: supposed to like, even if you do the silly thing 486 00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:10,080 Speaker 1: and you strike it a certain way, you should not 487 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 1: ignite the stuff inside. So it's again idiotproof. So even 488 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: if you do the wrong thing, it should still be fine. 489 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,960 Speaker 1: But anyway, on top of the one hundred and sixty thousand, 490 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:31,719 Speaker 1: McDonald's is to pay two point seven million in punitive damages. 491 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:38,160 Speaker 1: Why two point seven million dollars, Well, I'm glad you asked, 492 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:42,799 Speaker 1: because I'll tell you so. How they came up with 493 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:45,800 Speaker 1: this money, and I feel like this is what took 494 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,319 Speaker 1: most of the deliberation time. I think they were just 495 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:55,600 Speaker 1: doing math. So this is based on two days of 496 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,759 Speaker 1: coffee sales, you know by McDonald's in the US, Like 497 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:03,480 Speaker 1: that is where they came up with this number. Now, 498 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:10,799 Speaker 1: the New Mexico District Judge, Robert H. Scott, he's like, 499 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:16,080 Speaker 1: that's too much, right, and he reduces the punitive damages 500 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:21,840 Speaker 1: down to four hundred and eighty K. So yeah, he's like, 501 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:24,880 Speaker 1: you can't give her this much money. And this is 502 00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:30,360 Speaker 1: where like this hits the headlines because the jury suggested 503 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:34,719 Speaker 1: that she get like two point nine million, and so 504 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:36,880 Speaker 1: everyone's like, she's off for two point nine million for 505 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:42,320 Speaker 1: spilling coffee, and it makes her the butt of a joke. Right. 506 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: So the judge he's like, reduced this down to four 507 00:37:46,239 --> 00:37:51,200 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty k, and both sides appeal this right 508 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:56,919 Speaker 1: and they end up settling out of court. Castilla's side 509 00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,239 Speaker 1: is like, no, make this more, because that's what the 510 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,399 Speaker 1: jury said it should be. It should be higher. And 511 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:05,800 Speaker 1: of course you've got McDonald's going no, this should be lower. 512 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:12,680 Speaker 1: So this whole thing, this led to a massive mockery everywhere. 513 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:18,040 Speaker 1: Woman sues McDonald's for coffee being hat like she is 514 00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:24,600 Speaker 1: painted as some grafta who's abusing the legal system when 515 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:30,080 Speaker 1: she was fucking paralyzed for two years, left disfigured and 516 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:36,400 Speaker 1: disabled because of the shitty practices of a corporation. And 517 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:40,640 Speaker 1: in all of these articles and all of these reports, 518 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:46,560 Speaker 1: no one ever reached out to stell Alibic, right, No 519 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,120 Speaker 1: one reached out to her, not to her, not to 520 00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:56,960 Speaker 1: her family. They just kept pushing this narrative like they 521 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:03,760 Speaker 1: were running with the story because you know, it's it's 522 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:07,879 Speaker 1: like rage bait, really, you know, it's like the ye 523 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,479 Speaker 1: I say the yield as if it's like ninety four. 524 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:17,560 Speaker 1: But like this is just being snowballed, and she's just 525 00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:26,600 Speaker 1: an item of mockery, right, And instead of like contacting 526 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:30,239 Speaker 1: her in any way or anyone trying to hear what 527 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,440 Speaker 1: has happened because of the way this story is pushed. 528 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:37,600 Speaker 1: A woman who initially just wanted her medical bills taking 529 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:40,880 Speaker 1: care of, right, and just for her daughter to be 530 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:44,799 Speaker 1: compensated for her having to take the time like three 531 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:52,359 Speaker 1: weeks for three weeks of being off work. So instead 532 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: of communicating and trying to find the real story, there's 533 00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:03,120 Speaker 1: this push about frivolous law suits because deeming it frivolous 534 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:13,120 Speaker 1: protects the corporations. And this ends up perpetuating this American stereotype. Oh, 535 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:17,840 Speaker 1: you know those sue over anything, and like it becomes 536 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:22,080 Speaker 1: a global joke, like it spreads across the world where 537 00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:26,279 Speaker 1: it becomes this this idea of what an American is 538 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:30,719 Speaker 1: like not only that you know all those sue over anything, 539 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:33,960 Speaker 1: but also that you know they'll make up things and 540 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:37,680 Speaker 1: create situations in order to sue, like all the time, 541 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:42,280 Speaker 1: just so they can steal money from like these big corporations. 542 00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:48,560 Speaker 1: And because it's pushing this narrative, right, it's mocking the victim. 543 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,480 Speaker 1: And because it's mocking the victim, and remember seven hundred 544 00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:57,400 Speaker 1: previous cases, by making fun of this, by belittling it 545 00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:02,000 Speaker 1: and demeaning the very idea of it, by mocking the victim, 546 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:08,919 Speaker 1: it stops others coming forward. And like when it came 547 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:14,000 Speaker 1: to Stella Liibeck, the settlement that she received covered the 548 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:18,480 Speaker 1: cost of a live in nurse. The last ten years. 549 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:22,600 Speaker 1: She had no quality of life. She didn't go out anymore, 550 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:28,719 Speaker 1: she didn't socialize, She lived a life in pain. She 551 00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:32,520 Speaker 1: was disabled, she was disfigured, she was uncomfortable, she was 552 00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:35,600 Speaker 1: a butt of a joke, and even if the people 553 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:40,600 Speaker 1: closest to her knew the truth, she faced ridicule, whispers 554 00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:45,920 Speaker 1: and sneers and Snyder remarks being a point of mockery 555 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:52,160 Speaker 1: because she was permanently injured, and because she dared to 556 00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:57,400 Speaker 1: stand up to a company whose business practices were deliberately 557 00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:02,560 Speaker 1: harming others. Right, and so for the last ten years 558 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:07,279 Speaker 1: of her life she didn't really have one. And so 559 00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:10,680 Speaker 1: on the fifth of August two thousand and four, at 560 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:17,600 Speaker 1: the age of ninety one, Stella Liibeck passed away, and 561 00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:23,120 Speaker 1: so ends the story of Stella Libec versus McDonald's. Now, 562 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:28,920 Speaker 1: I know it's like fairly recent history, but it's one 563 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:34,239 Speaker 1: of those moments where it's fairly easy to recognize how 564 00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:40,359 Speaker 1: the narrative was twisted and how this victim was, you know, 565 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:47,200 Speaker 1: bullittled and mocked and publicly discredited in order to absolve 566 00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:54,600 Speaker 1: this big business of wrongdoing even though they knew they 567 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:59,680 Speaker 1: were wrong. And it's just like the way that it's 568 00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:02,919 Speaker 1: spread read over the news and across the world. It's 569 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:07,319 Speaker 1: very easy to see how the propaganda spreads and how 570 00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:12,239 Speaker 1: easy it is for it to be churned out. But yeah, 571 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:15,920 Speaker 1: that is my retelling of this story. If you liked 572 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:17,920 Speaker 1: it written review of five stars. If you didn't like it, 573 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:22,120 Speaker 1: give it to yourself. I don't want to hear it. Yeah. 574 00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:27,880 Speaker 1: So I've had a few people question me about transcripts actually, 575 00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:33,719 Speaker 1: and i've I should be transcribed. I have it like 576 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:40,319 Speaker 1: on the actual like on the actual hosting platform, it's 577 00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:46,600 Speaker 1: like transcribed, and then also on like Spotify should be transcribing. 578 00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:50,840 Speaker 1: I don't know why it's not if it isn't, because 579 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:53,920 Speaker 1: I've pressed all the buttons and it's saying it is. 580 00:43:54,360 --> 00:44:01,440 Speaker 1: So at this point, I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, 581 00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:05,960 Speaker 1: get your tickets to see me this weekend or see 582 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:09,120 Speaker 1: me in Belfast or Dublin when those dates come up, 583 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:19,719 Speaker 1: and happy birthday month to me, I suppose. Yeah. I 584 00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:22,600 Speaker 1: saw a thing the other day, said bar before we end, 585 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:27,200 Speaker 1: where a mutual of mine had said that they were 586 00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:33,720 Speaker 1: sort of going nineteen nineties in their media consumption. Yeah, 587 00:44:33,760 --> 00:44:37,080 Speaker 1: and so they were watching like slow TV shows and 588 00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:39,959 Speaker 1: movies and less time on social media, how they were 589 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:44,399 Speaker 1: calling their friends instead of messaging them and stuff like that. 590 00:44:44,719 --> 00:44:49,839 Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, that's really good. So I 591 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:52,399 Speaker 1: really want to get nice stationary. I've been thinking about 592 00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:54,279 Speaker 1: this for a while because I wanted to get like 593 00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:56,880 Speaker 1: really nice stationary and start writing letters because you all 594 00:44:56,880 --> 00:45:00,120 Speaker 1: know I love letters. I love them, and so so 595 00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:04,200 Speaker 1: I'd love to just start writing to people again. I 596 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:09,080 Speaker 1: just think it be quite nice. Something slow, like my 597 00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:14,040 Speaker 1: media consumption. I've tried to make it slower because it's 598 00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:16,759 Speaker 1: supposed to be really good for your mental health, and 599 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:19,279 Speaker 1: I'm trying to make it ever to actually hang out 600 00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:24,080 Speaker 1: with friends and stuff. More like I'm organizing more stuff 601 00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:27,480 Speaker 1: for next year to try and give myself that option 602 00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:30,600 Speaker 1: to go and like see people and hang out and 603 00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:35,560 Speaker 1: do fun stuff. But yeah, but do all the good stuff. 604 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:40,960 Speaker 1: Have a great time. And it is recommendation time already, 605 00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:47,040 Speaker 1: so okay, it's November as well, so like people are 606 00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:52,520 Speaker 1: growing mustaches and shaving mustaches and there's a mustache situation happening, 607 00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:57,800 Speaker 1: and in light of that and also the slow media 608 00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:07,680 Speaker 1: consumption is for watching, I'm gonna recommend Magnum Pi, the 609 00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:11,799 Speaker 1: original TV show with Tom Sella and his magnificent mustache 610 00:46:12,360 --> 00:46:16,960 Speaker 1: and dany diny shorts, like like the very first episode 611 00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:23,000 Speaker 1: he's in like these short shorts, and I find them 612 00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:28,720 Speaker 1: so funny. So yeah, that's fun. So couple costume one year, 613 00:46:29,120 --> 00:46:32,840 Speaker 1: if I'm ever in a couple, Jessica Fletcher and Magnum Pi, 614 00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:38,000 Speaker 1: they did two crossover episodes. I've seen neither, but I 615 00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:43,759 Speaker 1: now own both both of those collections, and so I'm 616 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:47,279 Speaker 1: I'm gonna get to it when who's to say, but 617 00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:56,080 Speaker 1: I am? So that's that. For listening the Spice Girl's discography, right, 618 00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:59,080 Speaker 1: that's I'm sorry, that's how it is now, nineteen nineties 619 00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:03,759 Speaker 1: girl pop, spice Girls, go for it, go to town. 620 00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:09,600 Speaker 1: And for reading The Boyfriend by R. L. Stein. It's 621 00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:11,680 Speaker 1: a point horror book, if you can get your hands 622 00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:15,160 Speaker 1: on it, I honestly don't know if I can. Did 623 00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:18,200 Speaker 1: I recommend this in the last episode, I don't remember. 624 00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:21,239 Speaker 1: It's like one of my favorite books I read as 625 00:47:21,239 --> 00:47:25,680 Speaker 1: a teenager. Point Horror was like a series of of 626 00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:30,080 Speaker 1: like horror books for young adults teenagers, if you will, 627 00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:34,440 Speaker 1: And so R. L. Stein of Goosebump's fame, he had 628 00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:39,400 Speaker 1: written this one called The Boyfriend. I also remember the Girlfriend, 629 00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:45,400 Speaker 1: but to a lesser extent, but I can still smell 630 00:47:46,480 --> 00:47:49,440 Speaker 1: the Boyfriend, like that's that's how good it was. I 631 00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:54,359 Speaker 1: can I can still like, if I think about it, 632 00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:58,600 Speaker 1: I can remember exactly what the boyfriend smelled like, which 633 00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:03,280 Speaker 1: is is good right if you can trigger that response. 634 00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:08,480 Speaker 1: But yeah, that is my that is my recommendation for yeah, 635 00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:12,600 Speaker 1: for today, and so I shall vet you all. Good night, 636 00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:17,759 Speaker 1: Adios au revoir of What is There? My friends, Bye 637 00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:18,240 Speaker 1: bye