[Lee Stewart]

In the early 1990s, a woman sued McDonald’s for serving her extra-hot coffee that gave her third-degree burns. Stella Liebeck initially asked for $20,000 to cover her medical expenses, but when McDonald’s countered with $800, she took it to trial. The jury awarded her $2.7 million (which is what grabbed the headlines), but the judge lowered the amount to $480,000 and they ended up settling for an undisclosed but smaller amount.