Disney World Lawsuit

[biggy H]

I agree, Disney didn't pour it on the kid, and what in fact were the parents doing while not minding a kid who really should be monitored in that situation.

Meanwhile, the 5 people in the hospital due to today's Magical Express Bus Crash, they may have cause to sue disney. Particularly if the bus did in fact run the red light.

In a way, it's a prime example of an acceptible suit and a non-acceptible suit.

They don't. It was a Mears owned bus and driver...

 

[eddy21]

Nope. It was a traveling county fair. The ride operator had 6 teeth and was wearing clothes older than me.

 

[Mukta]

Just to recap:
This happened at Cosmic Ray's where the hot cheese is part of the condiment bar. There was no Disney server involved. The parents served it to their child.

The child is 4 years old. I think that the parents are responsible for checking the temperature before giving hot food to a 4 year old.

I think it is very sad that the child was burned and the photos were quite tragic. I just don't see how Disney has any liability in this.

 

[Epcotdad]

 

[me_stitch]

I didn't know there was a seperate Nacho's for children??? how was disney supposed to know the idiot was going to dip his face into the cheese. :hammer:

 

[Wilt Dasney]

I didn't know there was a seperate Nacho's for children??? how was disney supposed to know the idiot was going to dip his face into the cheese. :hammer:

Nothing like insulting an injured pre-schooler to drag a thread back from the brink of irrational hyperbole.

 

[mcjaco]

Which is still a lot of money for a lapse in common sense. Knives don't have warning labels on them, but I'm not about to net half a million dollars for cutting myself.

How is this a lapse in common sense? One can assume that the cheese isn't going to be so hot as to give second and third degree burns. Skin, no matter what the age of the person, is going to burn if it's too hot.

Unless you have full knowledge of the legal liability system, and all aspects to the claim.......it's best to sit back and remain an observer.

I'm repeating this, because a lot of you are making this case to be a lot simpler than it really is. This has a lot more to do than "common sense."

 

[pax_65]

How is this a lapse in common sense? One can assume that the cheese isn't going to be so hot as to give second and third degree burns. Skin, no matter what the age of the person, is going to burn if it's too hot.

As a parent, I have difficulty imagining any scenario in which I would sue because the food prepared for my 4-year-old child is too hot. That's because I consider it my responsibility to check the food before I allow my 4-year-old access to it. Similarly I would remove sharp knives from his place setting, cut up his food so he doesn't choke, make sure his drink is in a safe, secure cup (not glass), etc.

A 4-year-old can't be trusted with hot food, sharp knives, choking hazards, etc. From a parental standpoint I view this as common sense.

 

[mcjaco]

^ And I believe the original report was that the child tipped the tray, and it spilled on him.

EDIT: I was right:

The family says the incident occured in March at Cosmic Ray's Starlite Cafe in Tomorrowland at Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park in Florida. They claim a paper cup with scalding cheese splashed on the child's face when he grabbed a food tray.

I am not saying there isn't liability on Disney's part. This goes far beyond "common sense" in legality, and normal circumstances.

Again, there's more to this case than parenting 101. Which by today's standards most people couldn't pass anyway.

 

[pax_65]

^ And I believe the original report was that the child tipped the tray, and it spilled on him.

Was the child permitted by the parents to carry a tray of hot food???? Or was the tray placed such that it was hanging over the table where the child could reach it and tip it on himself? These are details I'd be curious to hear.

We keep hearing about the temperature of the cheese, and that might have some merit - indeed, Disney shouldn't be serving cheese that's molten-hot. But what if the tray had held hot soup, coffee or tea? Or a sharp knife? Or a heavy plate?

When you allow a 4-year-old to tip a tray full of hot food on himself, bad things are going to happen.

 

[juniorthomas]

^ And I believe the original report was that the child tipped the tray, and it spilled on him.

EDIT: I was right:



I am not saying there isn't liability on Disney's part. This goes far beyond "common sense" in legality, and normal circumstances.

Again, there's more to this case than parenting 101. Which by today's standards most people couldn't pass anyway.

So you think we're wrong AND most likely bad parents. Neat.

I get what you're saying, though the implications of that would be ridiculous for any industry that uses countertops. The temperature of the cheese is something that can be reasonably controlled by Disney, but is a company really supposed to make sure that all flat surfaces are built in a way to prevent things from being pulled off of them? Kids grab stuff all the time. It's almost impossible to prevent.

 

[mcjaco]

^ Way to read into that.

No, I'm saying that in my years of handling high value general liability claims, there's a lot more to these than "common sense." Everyone is trivializing the whole case and making it much less complicated than it really is.

Did Disney provide the cheese in a proper container? Did Disney follow the manufacturer's recommended heating instructions? If so, is there a contract that limits Disney's liability in such a case, and multiple defendants need to be put on notice of the claim? If Disney not abide my the manufacturer's instructions, how liable are they? Did Disney have reasonable knowledge that a small child might grab for a tray and spill something on themselves, such as a hot or cold item?

 

[pax_65]

In an abundance of caution, effective immediately all Disney restaurants will serve only Jello and lukewarm water in Styrofoam cups.

 

[xdan0920]

^ Way to read into that.

No, I'm saying that in my years of handling high value general liability claims, there's a lot more to these than "common sense." Everyone is trivializing the whole case and making it much less complicated than it really is.

Did Disney provide the cheese in a proper container? Did Disney follow the manufacturer's recommended heating instructions? If so, is there a contract that limits Disney's liability in such a case, and multiple defendants need to be put on notice of the claim? If Disney not abide my the manufacturer's instructions, how liable are they? Did Disney have reasonable knowledge that a small child might grab for a tray and spill something on themselves, such as a hot or cold item?

We all get that this is complicated.

The point I believe most people are making, is, Watch your own kids. You are responsible for your own child. That is simple.

 

[juniorthomas]

^ Way to read into that.

No, I'm saying that in my years of handling high value general liability claims, there's a lot more to these than "common sense." Everyone is trivializing the whole case and making it much less complicated than it really is.

Did Disney provide the cheese in a proper container? Did Disney follow the manufacturer's recommended heating instructions? If so, is there a contract that limits Disney's liability in such a case, and multiple defendants need to be put on notice of the claim? If Disney not abide my the manufacturer's instructions, how liable are they? Did Disney have reasonable knowledge that a small child might grab for a tray and spill something on themselves, such as a hot or cold item?

So the complexity is actually: was the cheese too hot and should Disney have safer food trays?

That doesn't seem much more complex.

Drawing it out further, I'm willing to concede the point on cheese temperature. But what about the issue with the tray? I know its not up to the courts to decide what, specifically, Disney is supposed to do about that, but I'm asking you: what is Disney supposed to do about tables?

Should they make all tables with some sort of obstruction, so nothing can be pulled off of it? Kids come in varying sizes, so should they make anything with a flat surface that can be used as a table a certain height limit? Do they have to reconstruct their trays so they lock onto the table surface, or do they get rid of trays altogether?

Its unreasonable to establish a precedent that has an implication to nearly every sort of retail environment (honestly, very few professional establishments that have public interaction do not use some sort of a flat surface that can have items resting on them) imaginable. Restaurants, airport ticket counters, every sort of retail store - everything would be impacted by this, and not for the better.

Of course, our legal system is quirky. They'd likely just award $30 million, take the appeal, and bring it down to $1.4 million.

 

[juniorthomas]

We all get that this is complicated.

The point I believe most people are making, is, Watch your own kids. You are responsible for your own child. That is simple.

And also that mistakes happen. How many kids have grabbed trays at Disney that didn't have molten cheese on them? I'm willing to guess, based on how often kids try to grab things, that lots of kids have pulled things off of their tables. This was just one occasion that didn't work out so well.

If the same thing happens to a larger number of people within a short period of time, maybe then this case has legs. If it was just a bad coincidence, then leave it be. Move on.

 

[pax_65]

The point I believe most people are making, is, Watch your own kids. You are responsible for your own child. That is simple.

EXACTLY. If I'm not paying attention to my child and he wanders into the Seven Seas Lagoon and drowns, should I sue Disney because they didn't have lifeguards on duty? Because they didn't have adequate fencing around the lagoon? Because they didn't have sufficient signage or signs of sufficient urgency warning about the danger?

No. I'll just watch my kid and keep him out of the water.

It's our job as parents to keep our kids safe. If the cheese was as hot as reported, why didn't the parents recognize that when they got the cheese in the first place (especially if it was self-serve)? With that awareness, they might have thought to be more careful with the tray, or even moved the hot cheese off the tray away from the child. Do you really need a sign that says "Melted cheese may be hot."? Isn't that like saying "Ice cubes may be cold."?

I joked about the Jello, but this is a serious thing. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney just started providing the little plastic containers of cheese (warmed slightly under a heat lamp) and adjusted costs as necessary to cover the expense. That's what we as a society deserve if we bring these types of lawsuits.

Want more cheese on your nachos? Want it hotter than lukewarm?

Tough.

 

[mcjaco]

EXACTLY. If I'm not paying attention to my child and he wanders into the Seven Seas Lagoon and drowns, should I sue Disney because they didn't have lifeguards on duty? Because they didn't have adequate fencing around the lagoon? Because they didn't have sufficient signage or signs of sufficient urgency warning about the danger?

No. I'll just watch my kid and keep him out of the water.

Now you're talking about attactive nuisance cases. That's a whole different ball game. Especially when it comes to kids.

 

[WDW 3]

OK maybe I'm naive but......... I have complete faith that Disney has a huge team of lawyers making sure they always follow the manufacturer's instructions, etc.

 

[Disneyfanman]

Years ago when I worked for Taco Bell, they lost a lawsuit when a child was burned by the nacho cheese in a kids meal. There was this flurry of activity, and then it was decided that all kids meals would be served with cold nacho cheese to avoid the situation again. So all 10,000 restaurants prepped hot nacho cheese, and then cooled it down in the serving cups. (The little cups, by the way, said "Caution! Contents are Hot")

Over the next 10 years or so, the complaints received in the restaurants were so frequent and so nasty that restaurants returned to hot nacho cheese to avoid guests anger. Today, at Taco Bell, they are still supposed to serve it cold in kids meals, but nobody does.

That was more than 15 years ago before law suits were so frequent and costly. My guess is that Disney will settle the suit and, for the time being, serve cold cups of nacho cheese that can be heated upon request.

We live in a time where you can be a neglectful parent and get money because of it. Or just stupid. For example, the sun-screens that go into car windows have a warning label that says...."Do not drive with screen in window". Why? Because somebody did it, crashed, and sued.

Or the statement on the McDonalds Quarter Pounder that says......"Weight before cooking". Somebody sued.

Sigh