Left Hand Books: Barsamian on capitalism tonight...Movie Night "Hot Coffee" on Sunday

[Dave Anderson]

at Left Hand Books (an all-volunteer collectively run progressive to
radical bookstore) 1200 Pearl Street in Boulder (Broadway and Pearl in
the basement).


REMINDER (tonight!!) June 12 (Tues.) @ 7PM: David Barsamian presents
his new book "Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism": interviews
with Richard Wolff).

June 17 (Sun) @ 7PM: Left Hand Movie Night:  "Hot Coffee," a
documentary which exposes corporate attacks on consumer rights and the
civil justice system.   "An eye-opening indictment of the way big
business spins the media"-- Variety

The movie deals with a variety of issues but focuses on an almost
universally ridiculed elderly woman in New Mexico (from rightwing
politicians to David Letterman and Seinfeld)

http://www.citizen.org/hot-coffee

What Really Happened?

Stella Liebeck, 79-years-old, was sitting in the passenger seat of her
grandson’s car having purchased a cup of McDonald’s coffee. After the
car stopped, she tried to hold the cup securely between her knees
while removing the lid. However, the cup tipped over, pouring scalding
hot coffee onto her lap. She received third-degree burns over 16
percent of her body, necessitating hospitalization for eight days,
whirlpool treatment for debridement of her wounds, skin grafting,
scarring, and disability for more than two years.

Despite these extensive injuries, she offered to settle with
McDonald’s for $20,000. However, McDonald’s refused to settle for this
small amount and, in fact, never offered more than $800.

The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages — reduced to
$160,000 because the jury found her 20 percent at fault — and $2.7
million in punitive damages for McDonald’s callous conduct. (To put
this in perspective, McDonald’s revenue from coffee sales alone was in
excess of $1.3 million a day.) The trial judge reduced the punitive
damages to $480,000, but did state that McDonald’s had engaged in
“willful, wanton, and reckless” behavior. Mrs. Liebeck and McDonald’s
eventually settled for a confidential amount. The jury heard the
following evidence in the case:

McDonald’s Operations Manual required the franchisee to hold its
coffee at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit;
Coffee at that temperature, if spilled, causes third-degree burns (the
worst kind of burn) in three to seven seconds;
Third-degree burns do not heal without skin grafting, debridement and
whirlpool treatments that cost tens of thousands of dollars and result
in permanent disfigurement, extreme pain and disability of the victim
for many months, and in some cases, years;
The chairman of the department of mechanical engineering and
bio-mechanical engineering at the University of Texas testified that
this risk of harm is unacceptable, as did a widely recognized expert
on burns, the editor in chief of the leading scholarly publication in
the specialty, the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation;
McDonald’s admitted that it has known about the risk of serious burns
from its scalding hot coffee for more than 10 years — the risk was
brought to its attention through numerous other claims and suits, to
no avail;
From 1982 to 1992, McDonald’s coffee burned more than 700 people, many
receiving severe burns to the genital area, perineum, inner thighs,
and buttocks;
Not only men and women, but also children and infants, have been
burned by McDonald’s scalding hot coffee, in some instances due to
inadvertent spillage by McDonald’s employees;
McDonald’s admitted at trial that its coffee is “not fit for
consumption” when sold because it causes severe scalds if spilled or
drunk;
McDonald’s admitted at trial that consumers are unaware of the extent
of the risk of serious burns from spilled coffee served at McDonald’s
then required temperature;
McDonald’s admitted that it did not warn customers of the nature and
extent of this risk and could offer no explanation as to why it did
not;
Liebeck’s treating physician testified that her injury was one of the
worst scald burns he had ever seen.
McDonald’s did a survey of other coffee establishments in the area,
and found that coffee at other places was between 30-40 degrees
cooler.
Moreover, the Shriner’s Burn Institute in Cincinnati had published
warnings to the franchise food industry that its members were
unnecessarily causing serious scald burns by serving beverages above
130 degrees Fahrenheit. In refusing to grant a new trial in the case,
Judge Robert Scott called McDonald’s behavior “callous.”

Morgan, The Recorder, September 30, 1994. From www.hottcoffeethemovie.com.


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NEW HOURS: Left Hand will now be open from 11AM until 7PM, every day
of the week!
RED DOT SALE!  Look for red dots on the spines of books to find
hundreds of titles which with a 50% discount!


About Left Hand Book Collective: We are an all-volunteer,
collectively-run, not-for-profit, explicitly socialist (but
non-sectarian) progressive (radical to liberal) bookstore which has
served the greater Boulder community (and beyond) since 1979.  We are
scheduled to be open from 11AM to 7PM Monday through Sunday, if we
have enough volunteers to fill all of the shifts. Our phone number is
303-443-8252 and our web site is at www.lefthandbooks.org.  The web
site has application forms for volunteering as well as a listing of
the areas which we cover in our stock.  While we can't take orders
over the web, you can call in an order with a credit/debit card (visa
or mastercard) and pay to have the items shipped to you.