McDonald's in Canada Faces Lawsuit Over Scalded Breasts

Xinhua News Agency ^ | Tuesday, January 15, 2002

[Dog Gone]

OTTAWA, Jan 15, 2002 -- A Canadian woman in the country 's eastern province of Nova Scotia , who claims she scalded her breasts while drinking hot chocolate at a McDonald's restaurant in London, Ontario, is suing for 50,000 Canadian dollars (about 33, 000 U.S. dollars), it is reported Tuesday.

In a negligence lawsuit filed against the restaurant in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Mary H. Corbin claims that last October 12 she ordered a hot chocolate from a McDonald's in London, Ontario Province. The cup apparently had a loose lid.

"When I raised the drink to my mouth, the lid flew off and the entire contents spewed out, whereby I was scalded by the hot chocolate from the center of my breasts down to my navel," Corbin, who is representing herself, wrote in a statement of claim.

"I claim that the lady who had served me was negligent, for when she had placed the cap on my drink, she had neglected to make sure the cap was fitted properly, thus allowing the contents to spill on me and scald my body."

Because of the scald, Corbin claims she was unable to wear a bra for five days and her jeans could not be pulled up to her waist for five days.

She says her husband bought some salve that she applied to her burns for five days, allowing her skin to heal without blistering or scarring.

Under general damages, Corbin is seeking about 16,000 U.S. dollars for pain and suffering, 3,500 U.S dollars for embarrassment, humiliation and emotional distress. She is seeking about 16,000 U.S. dollars in punitive damages as well.

Copyright 2002 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

[ArGee]

Even if proven true, the claim hardly seems worth so much money.

Well, that depends on what she's carrying and how she makes her living, eh?

Shalom.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Will hot chocolate containers in Canada say:

"WARNING! CONTENTS OF CONTAINER ARE EXTREMELY HOT. DO NOT DIP BREASTS IN CONTENTS OF CONTAINER!"

[ArGee]

Good thing she didn't use a straw or she might have punctured her brain.

Should she have managed to puncture her head, I think light might have shone through the opening. If you put your ear up to it, you would hear an echo-y, whistling sound.

Shalom.

[FourtySeven]

HA.....Canadians don't know how to sue. Now that old lady that got a million dollars because she burned herself with coffee, THAT is how to SUE!

[11th Earl of Mar]

Re: the fractured cup theory... It could be the case that an employee failed to fully secure the lid on the cup. If this was the case, the cup could easily collapse when held too tightly, thus causing a crack. But it would be impossible to prove wrongdoing by McDonalds' using such theory without having OJ's jury. Then all bets are off.

[StriperSniper]

she was unable to wear a bra for five days and her jeans could not be pulled up to her waist for five days.

I thought that was in style?

[MassExodus]

[E=MC²]

"I claim that the lady who had served me was negligent,...

And I claim that the boob drinking the hot chocolate was negligent.

[badfreeper]

I think this story is a load of BS...why would Xinhua have a story that no Canadian source does? A story like this would be fodder for every radio morning and talk show in the country, and yet I've heard nothing about it. Furthermore, there's no reason for this woman to file her suit in a Nova Scotia court. The McDonald's in question was in Ontario and McDonald's of Canada's head office is in Ontario. The suit would have to be filed in Ontario.

I suspect Xinhua would file this story under, "Hey, look what dumb round-eye did! Aren't we smarter!" Oh wait, I guess that's profiling...never mind....

[AppyPappy]

You just can't get good scalded breasts anymore. I'd sue too.

[Dog Gone]

Not only that, you're wrong. Here's the story in Canada's National Post.

Here it is in the Nova Scotia Halifax Herald.

I could give you a couple more links, but you get the picture, I hope.

[Republican Wildcat]

She lives in Nova Scotia, so that's why she filed the suit there. It may turn out to be the incorrect venue, but that doesn't mean she did not file the suit there. I'm not sure of Canadian law, but under U.S. practices, she could have certainly filed suit there, because undoubtedly McDonald's does business in Nova Scotia, and therefore has a connection to the area and could fall under the jurisdiction of their courts.

[Republican Wildcat]

ah, those mention the suit in TN over a "defective pickle". Why did they settle? They paid money to a woman alleging a "defective pickle"??!

[discostu]

No, no, no. Think about it: the clerk gives her the coffee with the lid on but before she can move it to her lips to take a sip, she has to open the little slit -- therefore, she was the last one to mess with the lid before drinking.

Now if you could find a way to expand that to 50 pages or more you could write an amicus brief and submit it to the court. This is the big whammy, can't drink from those McD lids without tearing part off.

[Dog Gone]

Sometimes you pay somebody who files a suit against you just so that they will go away.

I once paid a rancher who claimed our machinery destroyed his quail feeder. He was really mad and showed me a picture of it.

It looked a broken white plastic 5-gallon bucket to me, the kind that runs $2.50 new. I could have given him one of mine. You get them with laundry detergent or swimming pool chlorine.

But I paid him $50 to settle the suit, and we both were happy.

[badfreeper]

I stand corrected, but I still think this will be dismissed, and she'll be told to sue in Ontario.

[discostu]

But that's a soda cup. Soda cups are larger and made of paper not styrofoam (also depends on how you hold it, the further down you grab it the less deformation of the O). Coffee cups are at most 20 ounces and good thick styrofoam, when I worked in McHell we didn't even give lids to the "for here" orders that were drinking coffee, everybody would just take them off and leave them that way (obviously if the customer asked for one they got it). The coffee really only needs a lid if it's going to be jostled.

Now it is possible she spilled a little and spasmed in such a way that she over squeezed the cup and ruptured it that way. But Stevieboy pointed out the big one: those McD's hot drink lids can't be drunk from without user interaction (tearing off the drinking hole). She monkeyed with it last, if the lid was lose that's her fault. Though personally given the careful consideration as to why there are no scars (I'm betting there are no pictures nor medical documentation either) I think the whole thing is a fake. Normally people can't tell you why a large burn didn't leave any scars, but she's got it right in the story.

[Stevieboy]

And if I could also levvy the sentence, I'm certain it would be a little slap on the head... just enough to say 'get a life and stop sniveling'.

[Doc Savage]

Careful when you tipple lest you burn your nipple! Probably the most sexual contact this poor guy had with this beast in 20 years!!