Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman put it on one of his Top Ten lists. More than 15 years later, the McDonald’s coffee case continues to be cited as a prime example of how citizens use “frivolous” lawsuits to take unfair advantage of America’s legal system. But is that an accurate portrayal of the facts? First-time filmmaker and former public interest lawyer Susan Saladoff uses the infamous legal battle that began with a spilled cup of coffee to investigate what’s behind America’s zeal for tort reform. By following four people whose lives were devastated by the attacks on our courts, this thought-provoking documentary challenges the assumptions Americans hold about “jackpot justice.”
Summary info for schedule – will be hidden on film page
Hot Coffee
88-minutes
Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman put it on one of his Top Ten lists. More than 15 years later, the McDonald’s coffee case continues to be cited as a prime example of how citizens use “frivolous” lawsuits to take unfair advantage of America’s legal system. But is that an accurate portrayal of the facts? First-time filmmaker and former public interest lawyer Susan Saladoff uses the infamous legal battle that began with a spilled cup of coffee to investigate what’s behind America’s zeal for tort reform. By following four people whose lives were devastated by the attacks on our courts, this thought-provoking documentary challenges the assumptions Americans hold about “jackpot justice.”
Screening day / time
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Hot Coffee
Filmmakers
Filmmaker info pending
Running Time
88 minutes
Hot Coffee
Filmmaker Notes:
I represented injured people in the civil courts as a trial lawyer for many years. I wanted to help people who were wrongly harmed by no fault of their own. For most of those years, it was difficult to find an unbiased jury. Many believed that there were too many “frivolous lawsuits” and that injured people were just trying to cash in. What most people used as the basis for their beliefs was the case of a woman who spilled coffee on her lap, sued McDonald’s, and got a big verdict. The McDonald’s coffee case is the most famous case in the world, and yet almost everyone has it wrong. Why is that, and who has profited from that belief system? I made “Hot Coffee” to try to open people’s minds about the importance of our legal system, which is a fundamental right that we have. The movie not only challenges people’s long held beliefs about the McDonald’s coffee case, but also how people are giving up their Constitutional rights every day without even knowing it.
Film details
Year(s) screened
- 2011
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