The Coffee Court Trial

As a class, we will conduct a fake court trial based. The class will be divided up into jury members, defense lawyers, and plaintiff lawyers. The jury will listen to the defense and plaintiff attorneys make their arguments.

  1. The plaintiff lawyers will plead their case.
  2. The defense lawyers will plead their case.
  3. The jury will ask each group questions.
  4. The plaintiff lawyers will argue their case one last time.
  5. The defense lawyers will argue their case one last time.
  6. The jury will make their decision.

*Lawyers cannot interrupt the opposing side. Lawyers must wait their turn to speak.

*The Judge will make sure both sides are treated equally in the court of law.

1. The Plaintiff:

Christopher Anderson is a 30 year old man who buys breakfast (hot coffee and a breakfast sandwich) from McDonalds almost every morning. He is aware that cleaning and mopping occurs frequently in the morning due to customers spilling coffee, juice, crumbs, and trash on the floor.

2. The Incident:

Christopher Anderson entered a McDonalds on Dorchester Avenue at 7:15am on Monday, November 9th. As he entered the restaurant, he noticed a worker mopping an area of the floor. The worker displayed a sign warning customers of the wet floor. Christopher carefully walked around the man and the wet floor towards the cash register. He ordered a breakfast sandwich and a medium cup of hot coffee. After receiving his food and coffee, Christopher walked towards the exit near the man mopping. While walking, Christopher opened his coffee to take a sip. As he sipped his coffee, the liquid burned his lips, mouth, and tongue because he was walking. This caused him to slip on the wet floor and fall down. As he fell, the coffee spilled over his face and neck, badly burning his skin. He also broke his right wrist when he fell.

3. The Lawsuit:

Christopher Anderson is now suing McDonald’s for $3.5 million dollars in damages. He claims that the McDonald’s restaurant is completely to blame for all of his injuries. If the coffee was not so hot, and if the floor was not wet, he would not have lost his balance and burned himself and broken his arm. Because of the McDonald’s restaurants unsafe practices, Christopher is so badly injured that he cannot work and make money to pay his bills. He also has to pay hospital bills for his broken arm and burnt skin.

Important Facts:

1. McDonald's operations manual requires that it keeps its coffee at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Coffee at that temperature, if spilled, causes third-degree burns in three to seven seconds.

2. Other people have complained that McDonald’s coffee is too hot.

3. There are no laws telling a business what temperature they must keep their coffee at.

4. Christopher Anderson was walking while he was sipping his coffee.

5. Christopher Anderson says that he woke up at 6:30am.

6. The McDonald’s employee mopping that morning displayed a warning sign.

7. Christopher Anderson is aware that mopping occurs frequently in the morning due to customers spilling coffee, juice, crumbs, and trash on the floor as they eat and exit.

Who is to blame? Why?

·  Lawyers have fifteen minutes to discuss their case with each other.

·  The defense team should be able to provide a solid argument explaining why Christopher is to blame.

·  The plaintiff lawyers should be able to provide a solid argument why McDonald’s is to blame.

·  The jury should come up with questions to ask each set of lawyers. These questions should help clarify the situation.