Consumer Rights Concept & Cases

An Overview
A significant section of personal injury law is related to consumer protection, a sphere of law dedicated to protecting consumers from false advertising, defects, and potential harm inflicted by products on the market. This is a field that has developed a great deal in the past 100 years, and is now supported and promoted by a number of laws and organizations. As with all areas of law, consumer protection continues to evolve to this day as it responds to new situations and challenges consumers face. Rise of Consumer Rights The modern concept of consumer rights did not really emerge in the field of law until the 1940s and 1950s, when several cases changed the prevailing mode of thought and expanded the scope of consumer rights. Escola v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., a California suit regarding a glass bottle of Coca-Cola that exploded in a waitress hand, was a landmark case in the field of product liability. It marked the emergence of the rule of strict liability, which holds manufacturers liable for the quality of their product in all cases, regardless of whether they are proven to be negligent. As a later case, Greenman v. Yuba Power Products Inc., put it, the purpose of strict liability is to insure that the costs of injuries resulting from defective products are borne by the manufacturer that put such products on the market rather than by the injured persons who are powerless to protect themselves. Consumer law continued to develop as the quantity and variety of consumer products on the market increased tremendously, and among attorney types the personal injury lawyer gained more attention. An international conference of consumer organization leaders was convened in 1960; the International Organization of Consumers Unions (IOCU) was created as a result. In 1962 President Kennedy gave a speech to Congress in which he laid out four consumer rights, which later formed the Consumer Bill of Rights. Those rights were the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard. Liebeck v. McDonalds Restaurants As consumer rights have matured, some cases have inspired a backlash among the public. Perhaps the most famous of these is Liebeck v. McDonalds, a 1994 case in which Stella Liebeck sued McDonalds for damages as a result of spilling hot coffee on herself and suffering third-degree burns (read more about the case at Social MTU). The case became a symbol in the media of an overly litigious society, but it is perhaps receiving a public rehabilitation as a result of a recent HBO documentary, Hot Coffee. Liebeck won her case, and an examination of the facts makes her case more sympathetic as a result of the coffee spill, she was in the hospital for 8 days and required skin grafts; she lost 20 pounds in the initial period of treatment and underwent two years of treatment after the original incident. The coffee she had been served was between 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit; McDonalds claimed this was because customers consumed the coffee over a lengthy period as a result of travel, but research by the company

demonstrated McDonalds knew some customers intended to drink the coffee immediately. Liebecks original award of damages, 2.9 million combined compensatory and punitive, was reduced significantly by the judge in the case, and after an appeal Liebeck and McDonalds settled out of court for an amount less than $600,000. Consumer Rights Continued Vigilance While consumer rights have evolved significantly over the past 75 years, cases across the country continue to define the extent and scope of liability and consumer rights. It is a field of law that has made important changes to 20th and now 21st Century American society, and will no doubt continue to play an essential role in our legal system and society as a whole.

This article was written by Robyn Schelenz on behalf of hartlaw.com. Nothing in this article should be construed as legal advice.