It’s been fifteen years, and I’m still miffed.

It’s not the distortion of the case that dominated the news media that bothers me so much.  It’s not even the highly paid insurance lobbyists who worked so hard to paint that inaccurate picture.

It’s that they got away with it.

Every once in a while, I’m reminded of that, and it comes as a surprise every time.  This week, I was reminded when a colleague mentioned the McDonald’s coffee case in conjunction with the recent case of the man who filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit because the cleaners lost his pants.  Others joined in.  Others joined in.  Here’s what I discovered they DIDN’T KNOW about the McDonald’s coffee case:

• The plaintiff ultimately received $640,000, not millions.  Yes, the jury originally awarded her millions of dollars–and did so intentionally, because the damages were punitive and they knew that McDonald’s, which raked in about $1.3 million a DAY in coffee sales alone, wouldn’t be fazed by anything less.  From that perspective, the initial award hardly seems excessive, but if you think it was excessive, guess what?  The SYSTEM WORKED and the verdict was reduced!
• The plaintiff sustained third degree burns over 16% of her body, including her genital area.  What exactly IS the appropriate compensation for undergoing skin grafts on your privates? 
• The plaintiff originally offered to settle with McDonald’s for $20,000–a number barely in excess of her original medical bills.  Had McDonald’s opted to simply pay the woman’s medical bills, no jury would ever have had the opportunity to award her millions of dollars.
• McDonald’s coffee was customarily served about 40 degrees hotter than coffee at other restaurants.  While most restaurants served coffee at between 135 and 140 degree Fahrenheit, McDonald’s served coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees–and admitted at trial that the company knew that a burn hazard existed for any food served at above 140 degrees and that coffee could not be consumed at that temperature.
• During the previous ten years, McDonald’s had received at least 700 other complaints about customers being burned by coffee.  These complaints included other cases in which customers had sustained third degree burns.
• The plaintiff was NOT driving.  While news reports at the time frequently asserted a sort of "it’s your own dumb fault" argument based on the idea that the plaintiff had been driving at the time of the spill, the evidence at trial established that she was a passenger in the vehicle AND that the vehicle was not moving at the time of the spill.

This list could go on, but the case is readily available for review for anyone who wants to understand the full details.  Sadly, that seems to be a very small pool of people, given that 15 years have passed and the momentary spin created by a very well-compensated team of public relations professionals and lobbyists working on behalf of the insurance industry still stands as "common knowledge".

As news outlets have been reporting over the past few weeks, the dioceses of the Catholic church in Seattle, Louisville and Kansas City have reached settlements to resolve sexual abuse lawsuits filed by parishioners or former parishioners.  These are of course just the latest in a serious of ongoing settlements over alleged sexual abuse of young people by Catholic priests.

The Seattle Archdiocese has announced a settlement of $380,000 with two unnamed plaintiffs who claim they were molested by two priests, now deceased.  The settlement includes $270,000 to one man whose initials were given as M.P., $110,000 to another, initialed J.P.

The Kansas City diocese paid a $225,000 settlement to Frank Scheuring from Independence, Missouri, who alleged that a priest began abusing him when he disclosed in confessional that a neighbor was abusing him.

Many lawsuits against other dioceses feature more plaintiffs and substantially higher sums of money.  Previously, the Pittsburgh archdiocese reached a $1.25 million settlement with 32 victims, the San Diego archdiocese paid out $198.1 million to 144 victims, and the Los Angeles archdiocese paid out a whopping $764 million.

More recently, the Louisville, Kentucky archdiocese agreed to pay $25.7 million to 243 people who alleged that they were sexual abuse victims, and 11 of the lawsuits were against retired Monsignor Robert Bowling.  One of the plaintiffs is a woman who accused Bowling of molesting her while she was pregnant and in the hospital.  This settlement is the largest of its kind in Kentucky.

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After much debate and its sunset on October 1st, Florida’s personal injury protection (PIP) law requiring all drivers to have PIP coverage on their car insurance was brought back to life yesterday. Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed the PIP legislation on Thursday morning and finally resolved, at least for the moment, what had been one of the most pressing personal injury issues in the state this year.

Under its old law, Florida required drivers to carry PIP, which essentially covered up to $10,000 of medical expenses sustained in car accidents, regardless of who was at fault for the injuries. This no-fault law had sparked much debate between auto insurance companies and health care specialists.

Auto insurance companies had claimed that the old PIP system was wrought with fraud and that consumers would ultimately be the ones who’d suffer with higher car insurance rates. Doctors and health care providers challenged these claims, saying that the auto insurance companies were merely trying to pass on their costs to another sector.

Legislators could not come to an agreement on the Florida PIP law, which ceased to be at the beginning of this month. However, at Crist’s urging, the legislators came to a quick proposal on Florida PIP in a special legislative session.  

The new law will not only reinstate Florida’s PIP law on January 1st of next year but also try to curtail instances of PIP fraud. With that said, Florida drivers involved in car accidents could be subject to a tort system establishing fault for the rest of the year.

 There are roughly 700 car accidents in Florida each day, and as many as 300,000 PIP policies could expire before January. Florida motorists are urged to contact their insurance coverage agent with any questions about PIP in the meantime.

Mark Contois has launched a campaign for safety in a “sport” he has never played. Mark and Colette Contois’ 10-year-son asked if he could play paintball with his friends. After researching the safety of the “sport,” the Contois’ said “yes.” According to the New York Times, a player inadvertently detached a valve, launching his gun’s carbon-dioxide-filled cylinder as an unguided missile. The cylinder struck Ms. Contois, who was watching from a picnic area, in the back of her head, killing her.

Mark Contois won $8 million in a lawsuit against the valve’s manufacturer and distributors of the valve and cylinder. Now, he is working to increase safety for paintballers. Thanks, in part, to Contois’ campaign, manufacturers are working to improve the valves and cylinders used to fire paintballs at players.

Paintball was started in New Hampshire in the 1970s, by two friends holding a duel using dye-capsule pistols developed for foresters to mark trees for cutting. Since that time, masks and protective vests and gloves have been developed to protect players from serious injury. 

Who would have thought that playing war could be dangerous? Jeff Weaver, owner of the facility where Ms. Contois was killed, has closed his paintball park, saying “I pretty much lost heart for the whole thing.”

A federal jury in New York city has found Isiah Thomas, Madison Square Garden, and its chairman, James Dolan, guilty of sexual harassment and creating a hostile working environment from a discrimination lawsuit filed by former MSG employee Anucha Browne Sanders.  As a result, Browne Sanderse will receive $11.6 million in punitive damages.

In the lawsuit, Browne Sanders alleges that Thomas, the head coach of the New York Knicks professional basketball team, sexually harassed her and that she was fired from the corporation for complaining about Thomas’ unwelcome advances.

In their defense, lawyers for MSG and Thomas claimed that Browne Sanders was fired for incompetence, and her dismissal had nothing to do with any kind of retaliation for complaining.

Certainly, Thomas’ case was not helped by testimony offered by MSG employees, including Knicks’ guard Stephon Marbury, which portrayed the administrative offices as a center for lewd and inappropriate activity.  Marbury, for instance, testified that he had engaged in sexual relations with an intern after a company outing to a strip club in 2005.

The jury awarded Browne Sanders a total amount of $11.6 million, including $6 million for the hostile working environment created at MSG and $5.6 million for the unlawful firing.  Dolan is responsible for $3 million of the total, and MSG with the rest.

Though the jury found in favor of Browne Sanders, Thomas was not found liable for punitive damages himself.

The jury will decide compensatory damages, meaning compensation for back pay and benefits, at a later date.