我想大家都應該聽說過這個案例，簡單來說就是美國一個老太太在買咖啡的時候，不小心燙傷了自己，她就起訴麥當勞公司，說咖啡溫度太高了，要求索賠286萬美元，並且還贏了官司.
我們正常在國內來講，無論在哪裡，不小心燙傷了自己，應該不至於去起訴哪個公司，但是這個發生在美國的案例勝訴了，下面我們來看一下這個案例.
事情發生在1992年2月，美國新墨西哥州一位79歲高齡的老太太，名字叫Stella Liebeck，她外孫駕駛轎車帶著她路過一家麥當勞快餐店時，通過駕駛銷售窗口買了一杯咖啡，49美分.
It happened in February 1992, a 79 year old woman named Stella Liebeck in New Mexico, USA. when her grandson drove her by a McDonald's fast food restaurant, she bought a cup of coffee through the driving sales window, 49 cents
離開麥當勞後，她需要往咖啡裡添加奶粉和白糖，外孫便停住了車，她把杯子放在雙膝之間，左右拿著奶粉袋和糖袋，右手要打開杯蓋子，沒想到一個意外，整杯子的滾燙咖啡灑在雙腿之間，致使大腿內次，腹股溝，臀部等嚴重燙傷，其中三度燙傷面積佔全身皮膚的6%.
After leaving McDonald's, she needed to add milk powder and sugar to the coffee, and her grandson stopped the car. She put the cup between her knees, holding the milk powder bag and sugar bag left and right, and opened the lid of the cup with her right hand. Unexpectedly, the whole cup of scalding coffee was sprinkled between her legs, causing serious burns in her thighs, groins, hips, etc., of which the third degree scalding area accounted for the whole skin 6%.
當時Stella住了八天醫院，生命沒有大礙，出院後臥床不起，兩個多月後傷口才痊癒，後來有做過多次植皮手術，在之後兩年的時間裡難以自如行走.儘管Stella有醫療保險，但是自費的醫療費仍然很多.
At that time, Stella stayed in the hospital for eight days, and her life was not seriously affected. After leaving the hospital, she was bedridden, and the wound healed more than two months later. Later, she had skin grafting for many times, and it was difficult to walk freely in the next two years. Although Stella had medical insurance, she still had a lot of medical expenses at her own expense
在傷勢逐漸好了之後，Stella的女兒和家人就感覺麥當勞的咖啡過燙，要求麥當勞賠償醫療費誤工費2萬美元，但是當時麥當勞不肯賠付，只同意支付800美元。
After the injury gradually recovered, Stella's daughter and family felt that McDonald's coffee was too hot, and asked McDonald's to compensate 20000 dollars for the medical expenses for work delay, but at that time McDonald's refused to compensate, only agreed to pay 800 dollars.
在協商沒有結果之後，Stella的家人請了律師以咖啡質量缺陷，危及人身安全，釀成責任事故為由將麥當勞告尚當地法庭.
After the negotiation failed, Stella's family asked a lawyer to sue McDonald's to the local court on the grounds that the coffee quality was defective, endangering personal safety and causing a liability accident
1994年在新墨西哥州聯邦地區法院，這個案件開庭，與我們想象的一樣，大部分人都支持麥當勞.
n 1994, in the Federal District Court of New Mexico, the case opened. As we thought, most people supported McDonald's
最後大家法官，律師，陪審團等他們的爭論點在咖啡的溫度，到底多少度成才合適呢？正常來講，星巴克，漢堡王等美國快餐店出售的咖啡溫度在75度左右，而麥當勞的咖啡溫度在82到86度，這個溫度如果燙到皮膚之後，會很快造成燙傷.
In the end, judges, lawyers, juries and so on argue about the temperature of coffee. How much is the right temperature? Normally, Starbucks, Burger King and other American fast-food restaurants sell coffee at about 75 degrees, while McDonald's coffee at 82 to 86 degrees. If the temperature burns to the skin, it will soon cause burns
最主要的是，麥當勞公司沒有在咖啡杯的醒目之處，以法律術語比如高溫，警告燙傷等來提醒消費者注意，從法律角度來講，這是明顯的疏忽.
The most important thing is that McDonald's didn't pay attention to the striking points of coffee cups. It used legal terms such as high temperature, warning and scalding to remind consumers. From a legal point of view, this was an obvious oversight
麥當勞的律師說，滾燙的咖啡會造成嚴重燙傷，這是基本的嘗試，不需要警告提醒.
McDonald's lawyers said that hot coffee can cause serious burns, which is a basic attempt, without warning
控方強調的是，麥當勞咖啡溫度過高，超出了基本常識的範疇.
The prosecution stressed that McDonald's coffee temperature is too high, beyond the scope of basic knowledge
最後結果：
陪審團認為麥當勞應該判賠償她16萬美元的損失，並支付原告270萬美元的懲罰性賠償.一共286萬.
The jury said McDonald's should pay $160000 in damages and $2.76 million in punitive damages to the plaintiff
法官審理後，最終判決賠償64萬美元給Stella. 雙方都提出上訴，但是最紅雙發達成秘密協議，大約70萬美元左右.
After the trial, the judge finally awarded Stella $640000 in damages. Both sides appealed, but the most popular two sides reached a secret agreement, about $700000
這個案例之後，我們都覺得無論從法律還是常識上，都感覺這個案子都是荒謬至極，常識性的東西還需要去花這麼長時間調查嗎，並且還爭論到了咖啡的溫度到底應該是多少.
還有一個傳說，美國一個老太太把剛洗過澡的貓放到微波爐烤乾，結果貓死了，她把微波爐高尚法庭，因為說明說上沒寫不能把貓放進微波爐
這個案例告訴我們有時候你覺得常識行的東西並不一定所有人都認為是對的！
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