susan salad off is a former attorney and the director of the documentary hot
coffee susan it straight to talk to you uh... i wanted first for you tell us a
little bit about uh... how we have seen over the last out on you know how many
years this idea that tort reform is objectively something that
is good for the individual and about how it's actually been used politically by
by really by those on both sides the republicans and democrats to convince
people that tort reform is something they need that will make their lives
better how that may not be true
well you know so much money has been spent by and large corporate interests
through the media teaching days the public
that our court system is broken because if people think that the court system
are civil courts are not working and that there are too many frivolous
lawsuits you know jack justice lawsuit lottery in people are willing to work
for a minute
which is become this sort of
term of art reform as if it's something good for us
when in fact
in this particular case
therefore much means we give up my rights is average citizens and
corporations get to make more money because the only place that we have to
hold wrongdoers accountable
is in the civil courts
and particularly large corporations when they make products that harm us when
they dont pollution into our streams
the only place that average citizens
case a note this is a bright and you have to compensate us for the harm that
you've done to us
is our court system
the corporations figured that out in fact it was really the mastermind behind
this years ago when governor bush was uh... when president bush was running
for to be governor of texas
and he realized he could galvanize money from all over the country into texas
if corporations
can limit their liability in the court system right it's one of those things
kind of like tax relief well with less taxes movies you've been always less
taxes must be good it's kind of the same thing overseeing the from reform
uh... let's talk about this frivolous lawsuit thing though because i saw you
on the steven cold air show
and here very funny way kind of address this issue of are there are there not
frivolous lawsuits mia and i know you say a lot of lawsuits that are
considered frivolous really are an a an example from the movie is the mc
donald's hot coffee incident tell us a little bit about that first but also are
there for a beloved lawsuits in europe
so daily
everybody wants to talk about
and wait for the first frivolous lawsuit because that those words have been sent
to us time and time again
through television commercials media
restaurant all of this it's been repeated so many times that sort of
flows off of our our our hearts house
uh...
you most people think that the mcdonald's coffee case when you spilled
coffee insead mcdonald's was the most ridiculous for frivolous lawsuits until
they see the film hot coffee and then after they see my film i'd
s people the audiences all the time that became any
how many people view knew about this case before you walk in the door
everybody raises their hand how many of you thought it was frivolous rediculous
everybody raises their hand
and then afterwards i think on the map it back
and nobody bases that because once people see the actual facts and what
really acronyms
and they don't think it was so rediculous for frivolous yet you know is
that when the facts though for people who don't know yet
so on was people think that this one was driving the car since the coffee on
herself she was a very dangerous and she wonders about
so
what happened is this is a seventy nine-year-old woman she had never
brought a lawsuit today in her life she was passenger in a parked car her
grandson was driving the ordered a cup of coffee
through the drive to and this was in nineteen ninety-two it's not like the
kinds of cuts we have now
this was one of those all sound a film cops with the little flat
plastic on the top
they could never opened that triangular trade style owned by the way
really the holes the heat of the coffee
and the cox was selling the coffee through the drive-through
a hundred a to a hundred and ninety degrees and the reason we know that is
because they had a policy or an animal that require dance to that
and classy act that temperature causes third-degree burns which are the worst
kind of friends that you can have
within three to seven seconds of contract
so they sold this coffee through the dracula but they put it in the back and
they put the cream and sugar in the back
so her grandson pulled into a parking spot
she tried to over the capitol talked to put the cream and sugar and actually she
studied it
between you and me
is on the seat because there weren't any cup holders are flat surfaces
uh... on in the car and when she of when she couldn't get the top
double-talk while she opened it and the copy was so hot
in the company really collapsed
and the copy who
old in her in her class was it was a young bucket seat
and it costs are so severe burns that she had to have skin grafting skin taken
from her thighs
and sound inside of her
she was in the hospital four a week
and then she wasn't it lasted for almost two years
and all she has four
what's the difference between what medicare paid and what her medical bills
where
and mc donald's although they had paid out over seven hundred times for people
living burned
by their party
they offered her a hundred dollars
and they never offered her another penny
and the jury was unanimous
and the awarded her two days
of coffee sales for mcdonald's which turned out to be a large some of these
two point seven million at the time
and then the judge reduce the amount
to four hundred eighty thousand but she was turned into a gag order and
mcdonald's wasn't so she couldn't speak about what really happened and the media
and mcdonald's and that tort reform groups they all got hold of that case
and just
blasted it out as being one of these ridiculous cases and of course seinfeld
and that was on a matter of that and all that became a good job
so uh... let's talk a little bit about it that that term for both let's get the
firm frivolous for a second and let me just ask you kind of uh... you know
colloquial e
do you think that there are lawsuits that are brought that don't have merit
and
and certainly those can be dismissed right so there is a legal recourse to
say well actually you don't deserve money
but do you think it's actually a problem where there are so many of these may of
meritless lawsuits being brought that are being paid for is that is that we
had a problem
it's not in fact
with a number of losses in the kinds of losses that i'm talking about the news
media unusually personal injury lawsuits injury at cases where people have been
severely injured
wages on land and they're trying to two-day compensation
from the person or the company that i meant and so those types of cases first
of all
you can't stop in individual person from frank a lawsuit i mean that's part of
our democracy we have as part of our constitution
the question is is that person going to find a lawyer an inspector singh who
brings a non meritorious case going to get a verdict from the jury and then he
pulled the verdict from the jets
and so
you know anybody's walking down the street injured troops over there and
speak their mind a printed of bringing a lawsuit filed yet but it costs nothing
to do that first of all
and the warriors who represent people who do the two are you sure that they
only get paid if they win
so it's very unlikely at a glance going to be very many cases that are not
meritorious because insurance companies are throwing money at non meritorious
cases and juries are getting verdicts
to not marry christie's so it person would have been the case like this
calendar which represent that person
what's just as the system of checks and balances annette that hurt but will
prevent a person from getting inverted innate so-called frivolous lawsuit in
the answers absolutely yes
first the giants
can't throw it out
the press and if in fact it's not meritorious so that if the person who is
being sued says this is a frivolous lawsuit they go to the judge and say
judge this is a frivolous lawsuit then the judge evaluates it
and decide whether it is a rate isn't and then decides whether that person can
move forward and it is intended to makes a mistake i says yes you can go forward
now you've got twelve people sitting on a jury they listen to both sides of the
argument on both sides of the case and then they come with come up with a
verdict in make most dates it see you now have this verdict it's not unanimous
it's like you know nine out of twelve or something but even if the jury gets it
wrong and a given product for a frivolous simple frivolous case which by
definition a cavity frivolous that they've given a verdict in evaluating
now i think that they did and the judge can reduce it like if that happened in
the mcdonald's case and then even if he gets pathogens now there are two appeals
one after the other and so
needed two-thirds of the army zvornik or a large about money that someone gets
free non meritorious case is very unlikely
contact
these types of cases the number of cases that have been brought in the last ten
years they declined by twenty five percent
fascinating though i really recommend the documentary hot coffee with them
speaking with susan sontag was a former attorney and the director of hot coffee
over really fascinating work thanks so much for talking to us through the basic
again and i don't know where they can get a absolutely palace
said he doesn't think it is hot coffee in the movie dot com
there's a trailer and also the dvd can be ordered there
byob also it's still an it's on the beach he'll go which is like if you will
come
i_q_ download the ac
for h_b_o_ from king streaming on h_b_o_ don't get a netflix but it's the dvd
on what you can buy a copy of that often outlets that are offered at this time so
he has done
take a look at the trailer and and hopefully don't you'll see it in the and
most people say it's a i'd opening that it will be changed
your perception about the civil justice system
thank you so much fun
thank you detect that i