A few years ago, a woman went through a McDonald's drive-thru and ordered coffee. She placed the coffee in her lap, and, unfortunately, the coffee spilled all over her lap causing severe burns. The woman sued McDonald's for her injuries. The media responded to her lawsuit with a lot of criticism of the woman; however, she won the case--based on evidence that came out during the trial. 

In this class, students will learn about the infamous McDonald's coffee case. Through part discussion and part lecture, students will understand what the public sentiment about this case was at the time, and how the evidence showed a totally different story. Students will learn about products liability under a theory of negligence so that they can understand how the jury arrived at its decision in this case. Students will be asked to analyze the details of the case to discuss what they think, if they think something is right or wrong, and if they would decide the case a different way.  By piecing this all together, it will lead to a greater discussion of how this case was used politically to lobby tort reform in many states. If time runs out, we will have the tort reform discussion through comments in the classroom (optional participation).