| From: | Volokh, Eugene <VOLOKH@law.ucla.edu> |
| To: | 'obligations@uwo.ca' |
| Date: | 05/11/2009 18:32:45 UTC |
| Subject: | RE: outlandish torts |
The result still strikes me as quite wrong, for the reasons
that Judge Easterbrook gave in McMahon v. Bunn-o-Matic Corp., http://laws.findlaw.com/7th/974131.html
.
Eugene
From: Barbara Legate
[mailto:blegate@legate.ca]
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 10:28 AM
To: Chaim Saiman; obligations@uwo.ca
Subject: RE: outlandish torts
Chaim, I believe your suspicion about Stella and other such stories
is correct. Stella was burned alright, but the evidence at trial was this:
Cheap coffee tastes better hot
Market research showed dirve through customers drank same about 18
min after purchase
The coffee had to be heated to a temperature that was capable of
severe burns to be hot after 18 min. The company’s own engineers warned of
same. A memo was produced at trial.
In that context, the result is not difficult to accept.
I once attempted to learn the source of the Stellas, who evaluated
the cases, who funded the evaluation, and who was behind the organization. My
pointed enquiries were ignored. I concluded it is indeed a tort reform group
funded by insurers. I didn’t keep my research since it was just for my own
benefit.
Barb Legate (from Canada)
From: Chaim Saiman
[mailto:Saiman@law.villanova.edu]
Sent: Friday, October 30, 2009 3:43 PM
To: obligations@uwo.ca
Subject: outlandish torts
I have been following the emails of the past few days with some
interest, and note that most of the examples (real and otherwise) are taken
from the American context. Moreover, as one poster suggested, some of these
hoaxes may be part of a concerted effort by activists on the American scene to
paint a cartoonish picture of the American tort system in order to spur on
political efforts at tort reform (limitation)
My question to this largely non-American audience is whether,
from an international perspective, these sort s of suits are seen as uniquely
(or typically) American, and if so, is it only on account of the jury, or are
there other factors at work.
Would be interested in your thoughts.
--cs
Chaim Saiman
Associate Professor
Villanova Law School
610.519.3296
saiman@law.villanova.edu