Snappy headline/post title, but almost completely wrong. Red Bull were not successfully sued - this is a settlement, not a verdict. Also,, as many others have pointed out, it had nothing to do with wings.
Also, while there is a lot of talk about the McDonald's coffee case, this one is completely different. The plaintiff in that case actually suffered a real serious injury and racked up big medical bills. The lack of universal health care in the US is a major driver in that kind of a case.
The Red Bull case is entirely driven by plaintiff class action lawyers. It is their business to aggregate a bunch of tiny claims, call it an injustice, and use the justice system to essentially blackmail deep pockets (large corporations or the government) to settle to avoid the costs of the lawsuit. This is a classic example of it. The people who suffered the harm get $10 (likely less after all the publicity floods the claims process and dilutes it) or $15 worth of the product that they say harmed them.
What do the lawyers get? $4,750,000. The rep plaintiffis get $5,000 each. The lawyers get 4.75 million. Everyone else? $10.
See question 19: energydrinksettlement.com/faq
I dont get why people drink red bull, ADD meds are much safer, they are a bit expensive but they get the job done!
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning.
-Kujako-
So ignoring the staggering amount of people in this thread who didn't read anything apparently but honestly think this is about wings...
In the US there are quite a few laws surrounding advertising claims and in particular ones that can be considered medical in nature -- IE -- improves performance, prevents disease.
There are also laws about comparison claims -- X out of Y people prefer this brand, this brand is better/stronger/faster than that other brand.
These laws exist for good reason. Because otherwise you would essentially have fraud -- and when you mix fraud in with medical claims you get a very very bad situation.
Sorry all you free market libertarian types -- common sense laws get to trump the free market now and then.
Can we please stop with this whole compensation culture rubbish? Judges follow public policy which for the last 25 years has been against frivolous lawsuits. You can't even be compensated for pure economic loss; the idea of a compensation culture is a myth.
I learned about this in my law class. A little bit of info you are missing at the McDonalds would keep their coffee at 180–190 °F (82–88 °C). The lawyer argued McDonald's coffee was defective, claiming it was too hot and more likely to cause serious injury than coffee served at any other establishment. Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants. So no they were not sued for the women spilling the coffee on her self, they were sued for keeping their coffee at 180–190 °F (82–88 °C) and because of the temperate it caused suffered third-degree burn on a 79 year old woman.
let me also add
Liebeck was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that she had suffered third-degree burns on six percent of her skin and lesser burns over sixteen percent. She remained in the hospital for eight days while she underwent skin grafting. During this period, Liebeck lost 20 pounds (9 kg, nearly 20% of her body weight), reducing her to 83 pounds (38 kg). Liebeck suffered permanent disfigurement after the incident and was partially disabled for up to two years afterwards.
Last edited by diamondjim; 2014-10-10 at 09:27 PM.
Originally Posted by Immortal Technique
Actually, the lady who dumped coffee in her lap won fair and square. You, like most people, seem to think she dumped some coffee and sued and won CUZ TEXANZ R DUM MKAAYYyyYYy. . . but in the real world of reality, the coffee was 200 F over the desired temp and burnt her almost to the bone, layers of skin peeled off her inner thighs and she had to have re constructive surgery to live. She simply wanted McDonalds to pay for the surgery, but they said no, so an investigation was started and uncovered that many of the McDonalds coffee makers were not regulating the heating element properly, causing coffee to become extremely hot and dangerous, some people have sued because the hot coffee burnt the inside of their mouths so badly, that there were holes in their faces. BUT THEY JUST DUM TAXANZ!
#TheMoreYouKnow . . . .
Or she could have not been completely retarded and put a cardboard cup of coffee between her legs. What did she think was going to happen? Even if the coffee had been a little bit cooler she still would have dealt with scarring and injuries. Frivolous lawsuit is frivolous.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning.
-Kujako-
Good, you know how many times I tried jumping off buildings after drinking a redbull? Too many. I deserve more than $10 compensation for all my medical bills, pain, and suffering.