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Parents Sue Dunkin Donuts for Hot Hash Browns
Who know: fast food fresh off the assembly line might be hot. Apparently a set of parents from the Boston area, who are suing Dunkin’ Donuts for burns their twenty-three-month-old allegedly obtained from a hash brown that was too hot.
And the lawyer keeps insisting this is NOTHING like the infamous McDonald’s coffee case.
Yeah, OK. Keep telling yourself that buddy.
Something about this whole thing sounds like a bad case of parents who feel guilty that their kid got hurt. It’s the feeling you get when you stand up too fast from tying your shoe and knock your head straight into your kid’s nose. Or when you’re running to get the phone and fall on top of your toddler. You didn’t mean to hurt them, but . . .
Of course, the parents say the hash brown “felt lukewarm,” and it must have been “heated unevenly,” hence the burns to their son’s neck when the hash brown he was eating fell out of his mouth and onto the exposed skin.
All this from the Boston Herald report on the incident and the impending court case.
But let’s be realistic: forget the fact that hash browns are a TOTAL guilty pleasure (because, again, we’ve all been there – who can resist their greasy goodness every once in awhile?). They’re also fried in grease. Which means they’re usually pretty hot all the way through, and dripping in hot oil to boot. I don’t know how a Dunkin Donuts serves them up, but the bottom of my Mickey D’s envelope is usually filled with fat globules by the time I’m done.
And what do you get when you mix hot grease with a kid still learning the art of gobbling down food before it burns your fingers? He’s twenty-three months old, not five or six.
Do you think this one’s legit?
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0 Comments
Rosana commented on Sep 14 09 at 9:56 amI think this is a case of parents wanting a free ticket because they no longer want to work. Another important fact is that potatoes always stay hot on the inside. I let my 23 month old eat by himself because he likes it and he does a really great job, but I make sure that if it is mashed potatoes or any other food that might stay hot inside, it is warm not hot, by the time I let him eat.
Criag commented on Sep 14 09 at 1:44 pmAny chance they lived in a trailer somewhere and wanted a quick win? All this no win no fee attorney business is the cause. But it’s not like that’s gonna change any time soon so maybe we should all join in, right? Cases like this are just a huge burden on the tax payer, nothing more, through increased premiums and what not.
dawbs commented on Sep 14 09 at 2:57 pmI’m always disturbed and intrigued by the misuse of the ‘infamous McDonald’s coffee case.’ It’s unfortunate that bloggers/reporters/whomever would rather deal in the stereotype and public perception to make a point than risk actually dealing with facts. (how sad is it that the “Stella Awards” named for Ms. Liebeck offers more than just a throw away-comparison line but this article can’t? http://www.stellaawards.com/stella.html)
Debo commented on Sep 14 09 at 3:03 pmI’m with dawbs–that woman was very badly injured in the McD’s coffee incident. She had skin grafts! This case is not similar.
brex commented on Sep 14 09 at 5:10 pmJumping on the McDonalds bandwagon here… Liebeck only wanted enough money to cover her medical expenses and it was the jury who awarded her over half a million after McD’s offered her $800 to settle.
Of course, maybe the lawyer means it’s “nothing like” that case in that his clients’ case is frivolous (which I hesitate to pass judgment on without all of the facts). :) Or is that the point you were trying to make?
Jim commented on Sep 15 09 at 8:43 amI know from experience that these little bites are sometimes unevenly heated. I have eaten two or three which were just fine, only to pop the next one into my mouth and end up spending the rest of the day with a sore burnt mouth. I think it must be that they mix just out of the deep fryer with older ones that have cooled under the heat lamp. That or they are microwaving them. If that is the case, it certainly would explain the uneven temperatures.
Knitty commented on Sep 15 09 at 8:54 pmI’m with dawbs — it makes my blood boil when people use the Liebeck case as an example of a frivolous lawsuit. It was anything but! That woman was seriously, horribly injured and it was DEFINITELY McDonald’s that was at fault. As for this case? Money-hungry parents. Check the temperature of your baby’s food before feeding them, especially if you haven’t prepared it yourself.
Ян commented on Oct 17 09 at 9:04 amНу вы бы подрались еще, нашли о чем поспорить :)
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