The GOP myth of the "Lawsuit" crisis
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The GOP myth of the "Lawsuit" crisis
| Sat, 10-02-2004 - 3:32pm |
Excellent article I thought. Comments?
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0410.mencimer.html

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Okay, my memory is a little fuzzy on this case .... are you *sure* that's what she was doing? I remember when I first heard about this suit I thought it was ridiculous too, but after reading a little more about it it started to make a little more sense. For example, I do remember reading that that particular McDonald's had been receiving complaints that the coffee was too hot for quite some time.
Don't have time to do a Web search on this but I will .... I just wanted to mention this, as I don't remember hearing anything about her actually driving with the cup of coffee between her legs. Please refute me if I'm wrong.
Bev
I used to be an actuary working on the statistics of claims and the such.
I found that suits such as these did actually do harm to the insurance industry, as the suits themselves are not regulated and there are no controls to keep them at bay.
Yes, I do feel the lawsuit against McDonalds was a harassment type suit as the woman basically sued McDonalds because she had less common sense than most 4 year olds. Yes, the coffee may have been hotter than the norm, but McDonalds did not put the cup in between the legs of the woman as she was attempting to drive her car. Only she was stupid enough to do that, and should have to bear the consequence of her action by herself. She did purchase hot coffee, and not iced tea afterall.
The insurance industry would do much better if it stopped bellyaching about such claims and found a way to smooth out the industry cycle, but... they won't, and only way it does is with heavy regulation, which also will not happen. I've bee through market conduct surveys by insurance departments, and know how companies deal with them.
The coffee was spilled by the claimant due to her own admitted negligence.
You assumed incorrectly, or just misunderstood what my point was.
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