"omg im guna sue u made my kid CRIE liek evrytiem." ^the logic of some people.

If they're in America, the lady may have a case. I still don't understand how that old lady won a lawsuit against McDonalds for spilling hot coffee on HERSELF! ..

wouldn't you sue if some crazy ass person with a justin bieber mask on, screams "BOO!" at your child and make it piss its self? ...gives me an idea for halloween..need to find a justin bieber wig..and a pimp cane! (ke ke ke..)

#26 I heard the coffee was "hotter then it should be" but people just want easy money.

She could sue for "emotional distress", although that's the point of Halloween, so the judge might just laugh in her face. And yes 31, the coffee was hotter than it was supposed to be. What the media didn't tell anyone is that that particulate McDonalds was told multiple times that their coffee was too hot, and that just proved it.

*particular, not particulate. Dammit.

She also had to get skin grafts for her third degree burns on her lap, and therefore on her genitals. So yes, she had every right to sue.

36 - Also the land where someone can sue McDonald's, Burger King and KFC for making them fat. Regardless of the fact that they ate there 3 times a day, everyday.

26 - At that time, McDonald's kept their coffee above boiling temperature - above 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This was so they could pour several cups in advance of being ordered and they wouldn't cool off too much that customers complained. McDonald's had been warned over a dozen times to lower the temperature of their coffee. Finally, a woman sued when she received 3rd degree burns (which burns away all of your layers of skin, down to the muscle) when she spilled a cup of coffee from McDonald's on herself. The judge that made the ruling finally set an example for McDonald's of what can and should happen when you keep your coffee that hot. The woman deserved every penny she was given.

Genital mutilation is ALWAYS a good reason to sue, no matter who's at fault. If someone sold me a ridiculously sharp knife, told me it was dull as safety scissors, and I accidentally cut my dick off, I'd be suing everyone from the seller to the manufacturer, regardless of the circumstances regarding my penile excision. That was a lot of commas...

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU 67. Someone gets it.

36- True that!!

77 - did you just "true that!" your own comment?

It's the weed talking, 82.

Actually, the McDonalds held coffee at 180 degrees which would cause 3rd degree burns in something like 5 seconds of contact. She also took the lid off of the coffee in the car. I don't think she deserved all the money she got as she was being negligible at the time.

Well technically it is trick or treat. You dont have to give him a treat unfortunately for him you chose trick. :)

As I understand it, her insurance company made her sue, and the coffee was indeed hotter than it should've been. Still stupid, though.

They're on your property and it is their word against yours. They have no case, you'll be fine. The DA would not even consider bringing it to court.

Wow, I didn't know the whole McDonals's coffee case. Thanks! And I agree, she deserved every penny she got.

There was a lawsuit in apex, nc against a Burger King that put cups of hot coffee in paper bags to pass to you through the drive thru window. They would never warn you which bag had your food and which had your coffee. A man sued because the coffee leaked, causing the bag to tear and dump hot coffee in his lap while he was wearing shorts.

105 - it doesn't matter if they are on his property. Haven't you heard of the burglar who sued the owner of the house he was breaking into because he got hurt in the process? The case would be dismissed based on freedom of speech. The owner can answer his door and say whatever he wants. It just so happened that his word and tone of voice frightened the small child.

I never knew that. I completely agree with the decision made by the court now.

68, these "incompetent employees" can't put sleeves that don't exist! The issue was that hot beverage containers didn't come with a "Caution Hot!" warning label on them cause companies foolishly thought that people would use their common knowledge and figure out that their coffee is going to burn them no matter how hot it is! Yes, it might have been too hot however she could have avoided it easily if she was using her brain and didn't place a hot coffee between her legs while operating a moving vehicle!

The only thing that case taught me was if someone gets hurt while braking into your house make sure and finish the job and put a bullet in them so they can't sue

#115- "Haven't you heard of the burglar who sued the owner of the house he was breaking into because he got hurt in the process?" Yeah, funnily enough I have heard of that... in the movie Liar Liar. How about basing your examples off events that actually happened, not stuff you saw in a comedy movie?

She probably didn't have a cupholder in her car so she put the coffee between her legs. I don't have a cupholder in my car, so that's where I keep my drinks. I've never burned myself though lol

138, 120's comment was from that movie. My statement was based off a true case of a guy climbing through a broken window and cutting a major artery in his leg and suing the home owner for the coat of the medical bills.

"emotional distress" the tort being "Intentional infliction of emotional distress" requires Intentional or reckless act, Extreme and outrageous conduct, Causation (defendant must have actually caused the distress), and actual provable distress,( typically in the form of a mental illness diagnosed after the event) intentionally startling a trick or treater on halloween meets none of the criteria. there is no case not even a whiff of a case. if sued OP could countersue for frivolous lawsuit and win

Lots of noise here... 1) If you live ANYWHERE in ANY COUNTRY with a common law system, you CAN sue anyone else for anything you like. How this plays out depends on which country you're in, and in some places you can be punished for filing ridiculous lawsuits, but you are still fully capable of filing them in the first place. 2) If you file a lawsuit against someone, there is NO DISTRICT ATTOURNEY INVOLVED. In the McDonalds matter and the OP's case, these would be CIVIL cases, NOT CRIMINAL cases. In small cases between two individuals, there is often not even any legal representation involved in either side since the costs of hiring a lawyer often exceed the amount of damages being sought. 3) Any actual coffee place NEVER keeps coffee above the boiling point, anyway. It's completely unnecessary to use such hot water in the preparation of coffee, and you're really not even supposed to drink it until it cools down to about 160 degrees Fahrenheit at most. Keeping it at such high temperatures, therefore, creates a hazard for anyone handling the coffee for no good reason, therefore McDonalds loses their lawsuit.

U can sue for anything pretty much I saw a girl sue a guy because he didnt show up for her prom date..

In order to win a case for emotional distress you have to prove it. Her son would have to go to therapy and seek help for his "emotional distress". I don't think she'd win lol

To 26: Actually if you look up the facts on that case she had good cause. They were shoving the food out the window so fast that she quickly set the coffee between her legs and when she turned the lid popped off and the coffee was so hot that it melted her sweatpants to her legs and they had to surgically remove it and then graft skin from her backside and the backs of her legs. She was an 79 year old woman. At first she contacted McDonald's and told them that since she believed that they were partially responsible they should pay for a portion of her medical bills, they told her to screw herself. Then she got a lawyer and went to them again and asked for the full amount of their medical bills, they told her to screw herself. Then she took them to court and won her lawsuit where most of the cash was from punitive damages assigned by the jury. We spoke about it in my Legal Ethics class, it's actually quite fascinating what the media does to stories like this.

138- No. That actually happened.

Krajjan- heres a quick lesson for you DON'T ever put ANYTHING that has the potential to cause harm near ur genitals. Why would u put a knife no matter how dull there anyway?

On the topic of the McDonald's lawsuit... Google photos of "Stella Liebeck burns" (the woman with the coffee lawsuit). Instant nightmare.

Oh for gods sake. What is it with people threatening to sue all the time. It's life. Frickin deal with it. If your kid ain't able to deal with a bit of FUN then he's wrapped in too much cotton wool and bubble wrap. That mom needs to cut the umbilical cord!

appropriate response: My rate is $500/hr, see you in court you cranky witch!

Also one big thing everyone is missing... She sued and won like a million or two BUT she only asked for 10k to cover the medical fees.

Suing over not showing for the prom is a matter of money spent in preparation for the event. If he agreed to take her to this event and he didn't show, for any reason beyond anything unavoidable (accident, death), she may feel entitled to compensation for all that was spent that otherwise would not have been spent (dress, shoes) and could not be used again (hair, makeup). While I think the idea of suing over this is frivolous, and that the expenses are solely on her (because nothing says she HAS to spend an obscene amount), I can also see where everything was done based on an agreement that fell through. I see it as similar to the breach of contract for not getting married but 'keeping the ring'. If a man proposes and the woman accepts, but then a few months down the road they break up, he has every right to take the ring back. In some cases, it's the law. Of course, this law varies by state.

I think he only has the right to take the ring back if she broke up with him. If he breaks up with her then I think it is her right to keep the ring if she chooses because it was in fact a gift to her. It may be an expensive gift, but a gift non the less, and no one has the right to demand to be given back something that they gave of their own free will.

I used to have to keep my drinks between my legs because of my broken cup holder. I spilled soda on my crotch a few times making it look like I pissed myself. Luckily, I was never a big coffee fan.

Whatever it costs, worth it.

You can't sue for emotional distress as a stand alone case. It can only be considered alongside actual damages.

Well 26 that coffee was over 100 degrees hotter than coffee made in a home coffee maker usually is and also she had to get very expensive skin grafts for her 3rd degree burns.

26, the amount awarded in that case was overturned. She only ended up with her medical bills paid and payment for lost time at work. People always remember the original verdict but never follow to see if it is final.

How are you going to sue someone for that on any day?! The ******* brat pissed her off, the mother didn't do anything to make it behave. The brat pissed itself. Shit happens, ******* deal with it. They had it coming. You americans somehow like suing eachother don't you?

I was the asshole who gave the comment the 667th like :3

They can threaten all they want but yelling "boo" on her own property on Halloween isn't going to get her in trouble. If anything OP could counter sue for slander.

It was because there wasn't any warning that it may be hot. She also received 3rd degree burns from it too.

A lot of you are being really insensitive and ignorant. The media and McDonald's purposely made the case look frivolous. The coffee was made over 100° F hotter than it should have been, for one. They were in a parked car and it spilled. It literally fused her labia together and she had to get skin grafts on her thighs, ******, and her bottom. She was a 79 year old woman. McDonald's was completely at fault. They ignored the many times people have been burned until a woman literally got third degree burns on her genitals. And then all of you ignorant dumbasses blame everything on her, of course. Check before you blame an innocent 79 year old woman for getting third degree burns on her genitals and needing skin grafts.

That's what I was thinking. If I had a kid who wanted to act like a brat, I'd let them deal with the consequences. Live & learn!

7 - Just like the kid who was harassing the teenage girl, so he got punched in the face by her.

Well, the kid that got boo'd wasn't necessarily the kid that rang the doorbell excessively. Though I agree that trying to sue over something like that is a bit crazy.

I found my brother chicken.

150 - this must be an epic moment for you... and your twin brother

It's called "Trick" or treat for a reason.

Agreed! That twerp deserved it!

Brother, I'm glad to see you escaped the butcher too!

I'm with you on this one. Poor kiddo haha will be too scared to go out next year. But yeah she can't sue you for that.

Kids have to learn early in life not to **** with other people.

I see what you did there. Punny.

3 - Revenge is a dish best served lol'd. The best way to get someone back is to amuse yourself, and scaring people is funny, imo.

I'm with OP. Some kid knocked on our door for 10 minutes just to "scare" us. It gets annoying. If he were very young I'd feel bad he cried, but some older kids. Hmph.

actually it was a mother over reacting and being a bad parent.

And what mother doesn't overreact from time to time?

When they threaten to sue over things like that, that's when a mother becomes a ************.

22 - So she became a lesbian?

There's no way OP would actually get sued. Boo is a pretty common Halloween thing too yell or shout or to try to startle someone.

I hope one day to not have a cild, sounds painful.

What's a cild anyway?

cause ya asked..i went to..GOOGLE! so here is CILD: Centro Italiano Logoterapia Dinamica, Center for Computational Intelligence, Learning and Discovery, Chakra Induced Lucid Dream, Chronic Inactive Liver Disease, Chronic Infiltrative Lung Disease. Not funny? How about: Chest Inducing Lung Destroyer? or Clone Idiots Little Dick.. (ke ke ke..)

child* Sorry for the typo guys. Touch screens don't always agree with me.

Neither does spell check apparently...