McDonald's Slapped With 2 Coffee Lawsuits

McDonald's must be grateful iced coffee season is finally here, considering that hot coffee seems to get them into nothing but trouble. According to reports, the fast-food giant is facing not one, but two new lawsuits stemming from incidents at Illinois-based stores in which customers were badly burned by hot coffee.

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The first case involves a 4-year-old girl who allegedly mistook her grandmother's request that she throw out an empty coffee cup, instead thinking she was supposed to ask for a refill. Not surprisingly, the little girl had trouble carrying the full cup, which resulted in her spilling the hot coffee onto her chest. Per the complaint, "[She] could not hold the cup steady in her small hands. A lot of coffee spilled out of the cup onto [the girl's] chest, causing [her] to sustain severe second-degree burns." The lawsuit is seeking nearly $4 million in damages — the bulk of which is related to the fact that the coffee was given to such a young kid, and is apparently a violation of company policy.

For those who remember the famous 1992 case, Liebck v. McDonald's Restaurants, in which an elderly New Mexico woman was scalded by too-hot coffee, this second incident should sound somewhat familiar. In this case, which occurred in 2010, a young woman says she suffered from severe burns on her thighs and abdomen after the coffee she ordered from a McDonald's drive-thru window spilled. According to a report in Crain's Chicago Business, the suit alleges "one or more of the following: that employees served coffee that was too hot or without securing the lid, or that McDonald's did not properly train and educated workers on handing hot coffee to customers."

What do you think: Does McDonald's deserve all heat for the too-hot coffee?