After analyzing Susan Saladoff’s Hot Coffee, one can say, with confidence, that communication is essential. Without it, people can and most of the time, will be misinterpreted. Sometimes, the magnitude of misinterpretation can be so large that it distorts the standpoints of the public. In the film, when outsiders are asked about Stella Liebeck’s hot coffee case, viewers see that none of the answers are identical. One woman assumed that Ms. Liebeck “pulled up, took the coffee, and dumped it” (Saladoff). Another believed that she was “driving and drinking at the same time,” and another that “she was driving the car, the lid popped open and spilled on her” (Saladoff). Weird Al Yankovic even made a spoof of the case through his song “I’ll Sue Ya,”
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Tort Reform includes capping of damages, which is the process of putting a price limit on how much money an individual can sue for (Saladoff). This is problematic in the system because people are unaware of these caps until the time that they matter most. In Hot Coffee, “Colin Gourley’s conditions were worth $5.6 million in damages, but “capping damages” shorted them to $1.25 million in rewards” (Saladoff), which his family was unpleasantly surprised and enraged by. When situations such as these take place, the audience sees how capping takes away from the power of the jury. A lot of the time, the jury does not know that there is a cap, resulting in a decision of a high reward to the prosecutor. However, when the cap is brought to his or her attention, “the trial judge, after the trial, reduces the reward to the cap” (Saladoff). Not only does capping damages belittle the power of the jury, but it relieves the wrongdoer from paying for their mistake (Saladoff). Colin had his first surgery at one year old. From then on, he had gone through countless operations and services for his health, including optical nerve damage surgery, and therapy, all of which are extremely costly. Because of price caps that the public unknowingly approbate, families like the Gourleys will never obtain the money they need to fix the damages that they are not at fault
Tort Reform includes capping of damages, which is the process of putting a price limit on how much money an individual can sue for (Saladoff). This is problematic in the system because people are unaware of these caps until the time that they matter most. In Hot Coffee, “Colin Gourley’s conditions were worth $5.6 million in damages, but “capping damages” shorted them to $1.25 million in rewards” (Saladoff), which his family was unpleasantly surprised and enraged by. When situations such as these take place, the audience sees how capping takes away from the power of the jury. A lot of the time, the jury does not know that there is a cap, resulting in a decision of a high reward to the prosecutor. However, when the cap is brought to his or her attention, “the trial judge, after the trial, reduces the reward to the cap” (Saladoff). Not only does capping damages belittle the power of the jury, but it relieves the wrongdoer from paying for their mistake (Saladoff). Colin had his first surgery at one year old. From then on, he had gone through countless operations and services for his health, including optical nerve damage surgery, and therapy, all of which are extremely costly. Because of price caps that the public unknowingly approbate, families like the Gourleys will never obtain the money they need to fix the damages that they are not at fault