You Want a Lawsuit With That Coffee??
By Eric M. Knobloch • Dec 6th, 2008 • Category: Civil Litigation, Newest Post, Personal Injury LawIn this blogesphere world this story is ancient:
A lawyer has won a lawsuit against coffee chain, Starbucks, after a hot cup of decaf was spilled on her foot.
Alice Griffin, a 42 year old Manhattan attorney, says she was at a Starbucks on Seventh Avenue when the clerk failed to put an insulating sleeve on the cup, then slid the cup across the counter, where it fell on her foot.
A jury awarded Griffin $310,000 from Starbucks in a ruling upheld by State Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman.
According to CBS, Starbucks says it regrets her pain, but it says the company will appeal the jury verdict if a better settlement can’t be reached.
Its no secret that I am a plaintiffs trial lawyer who represents people injured in a wide variety of ways. But I must admit, I had no idea these types of cases still existed. There are many critizisms to go around, including the plaintiffs lawyers who bring these SOMETIMES unmeritorious claims, to the big corporations that place profit ahead of customer safety.
Recently, (again, ancient in blogesphere time) a New York appellate judge lowed the verdict to around $76,000. Although factually different, the Starbucks case and the McDonalds case are very similar. In both cases a jury found negligence on behalf of the companies. Both juries awarded an amount of money that was later reduced by an appellate judge. Both companies were found to be serving coffee above reasonable temperatures.
These highly publicized cases outrage individuals on Wisconsin juries when they are put to the task of awarding money to an injured plaintiff. ”Someone getting money for nothing while I sit here and waste my day on jury duty for the paltry $20 bucks a day”. Appears as if some battles are won in spite of the war.
I’m curius if there are ”Starbucks” or “McDonalds” cases in Wisconsin????
Eric M. Knobloch is a Personal Injury Attorney with the Warshafsky Law Firm. Eric specializes in auto accidents, civil rights violations and premises liability. Eric can be reached by:
Phone: 414-276-4970
E-mail: EricK@Warshafsky.com
Website: www.warshafsky.com
Fax: 414-276-5533
Address: 839 N. Jefferson Street, Suite 300
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202
Email this author | All posts by Eric M. Knobloch
.jpg){kind=small}
