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Comment by Alupis | Hacker News Reader

Of course the plaintiffs attorney argued coffee should be lower temperature - it literally was their case.

And no, there is no coffee professional (organization, individual, whatever) brewing coffee at 140*F.

Additionally - 140*F water is still going to burn if you spill it all over your clothing. Lastly, the customer removed the lid of the coffee while between her legs, which is how the cup was crushed and coffee ran all over her.

The case was absurd...

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The case was not absurd. Even if you think they should be fine to serve it at such a high temperature, she just wanted them to pay $20,000 for her medical bills, but McDonald's used it as a way to cast absurdity onto supposed tort abuse and it worked with most of the population still saying things like "you can even sue someone if you spill your own coffee".

> it worked with most of the population still saying things like "you can even sue someone if you spill your own coffee".

I don't understand how what you wrote gels with the grandparents comment of:

> Lastly, the customer removed the lid of the coffee while between her legs, which is how the cup was crushed and coffee ran all over her.

The issue was the temperature it was served at, not the temperature it was brewed at...

Nobody is saying the coffee should be brewed at a lower temperature.

That's not an industry standard either though. With a lot of equipment it would be technically impossible, because the pre-heated brew water is what's keeping the standing coffee hot.

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