What is the ruling in South Carolina on burns received from hot liquids purchased from a business?

Question

My grandson spilled a hot liquid on his foot and received 2nd and 3rd degree burns. Should the business be at fault for this.

Answer 1

If you can prove that the business had the coffee too hot then you have a case. That is what happened in the infamous McDonald's coffee case. The world got upset because a woman burned herself with coffee she bought at McDonalds when she spilled it on herself after she had got it in drive thru. The world basically said, why give this woman millions? Shouldn't she know that coffee is hot?

The actual facts about the case is that the coffee was too hot. They kept it around 180 degrees and that is more than enough to cause very severe burns. McDonald's had been warned about this but they kept it at company policy that the coffee needed to be that hot. That is much hotter than normal coffee. People constantly were burning their mouths trying to drink the stuff.

So when this woman burned herself, McDonalds were responsible in the fact that they allowed something unnecessarilly dangerous on the market. They ignored the public safety and kept their coffee way too hot. It was only a matter of time before someone sued.

So, if this business had their coffee too hot then you might have a case. It is not unheard of.

Answer 2

if he spilled the liquid due to his own neglegence he has no case. If the company had a duty of some sort to protect him from this liquid and did not reasonably attempt to fulfull the duty then you will be able to collect damages for any medical bills and pain and suffering.

Answer 3

I doubt there is a law other than general liability. Talk to lawyer.