Hot nacho lawsuit - 6/8/11 Update: Settlement?

[roomthreeseventeen]

Does anyone know if Disney did anything for them at the time? I was thinking about the little boy who was bitten by the snake. If I recall, Disney did a lot to help his family.

 

[kaligal]

Having spilled several drinks on myself thanks to the dodo-head McDonald's people who were incapable of properly placing a lid on a cup, I was always kinda/sorta rooting for the woman who spilled coffee on herself.

I don't know about this, though. Sounds like a typical dumb kid thing and not Disney's fault.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

It is all over the news down here I am sick of hearing about it. Obviously the cheese was way to hot to do that to a child. I do think it is Disneys fault in this case. If that happened to my kid I would be furious. Cheese should never be that hot.

 

[Reddy]

It is all over the news down here I am sick of hearing about it. Obviously the cheese was way to hot to do that to a child. I do think it is Disneys fault in this case. If that happened to my kid I would be furious. Cheese should never be that hot.

There is a sign that says it is HOT - why would you let a 4 year old near it??
the new paper also says that no one told them it is hot - I wonder if the wet floor signs that we see now will need a person to stand in the area to tell everyone the floor is wet since a sign isn't good enough for these parents??

 

[NOLA_Tink]

It sounds like the negligent and careless ones were the parents for allowing their 4 year old to pour hot cheese on himself. If the injury was so bad, why didn't they notify someone at Disney at the time of the incident instead of waiting a year? Sounds like the behavior of a family who has found themselves in financial distress and is looking for a sucker with deep pockets to help get them out it. I hope Disney wins this one, or we'll all be subjected to warning stickers and disclaimers on every product with melted cheese. DANGER! Melted cheese may be hot! Don't stick your face in the pizza! Burns and emotional scarring may result!

When I first read this article I thought, "Awww, man. There goes the hot & warm serve-yourself options at Pecos & Cosmic Ray."

 

[WaltD4Me]

There is a sign that says it is HOT - why would you let a 4 year old near it??
the new paper also says that no one told them it is hot - I wonder if the wet floor signs that we see now will need a person to stand in the area to tell everyone the floor is wet since a sign isn't good enough for these parents??

Accidents happen even when you are being careful. That cheese had to be extremely hot to burn like that. Plus, cheese sticks to you. It isn't like getting burned with hot water or coffee that runs right off.

 

[mjaclyn]

After reading what happened, you can see that the boy was burned by accident. He wasn't trying to eat the cheese at this point, some of it was spilled onto his face and it burned him. When I saw the photo I was really sad for him. That must have really hurt and it was probably very upsetting to the family to have to spend hours at the hospital instead of at Disney where they planned to be. I do think Disney is partly at fault. There is a huge difference between serving hot food that is enjoyable and food that is hot enough to cause third degree burns. Just the fact that almost a year later the boy is still being treated for it shows how ridiculously hot it was. The cheese sauce/coffee/whatever else should be hot enough but not so hot that it could cause serious damage to someone if it was spilled.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I did not see anything in the article saying that (1) they spent hours in a hospital, or (2) that he still has scarring.

 

[mjaclyn]

I did not see anything in the article saying that (1) they spent hours in a hospital, or (2) that he still has scarring.

I've been reading a lot about this so I can't remember where I read it but I did see that the family took him to the hospital after the accident and that 11 months later he was still being treated for it. I did not read anywhere exactly how much time was spent in the hospital but even under the best circumstances when a family goes to the ER or even just Urgent Care, all the time spent waiting, filling out paperwork, treatment, etc. does tend to take hours.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I did not see anything in the article saying that (1) they spent hours in a hospital, or (2) that he still has scarring.

If he's still being treated for 3rd degree burns, I would guarantee there's some scarring.

 

[LilyWDW]

I posted this on another thread...

Okay, so what I can find online...

Hot food must be kept at a temp of 140 F or above to be out of the "danger zone" (Florida Division of Food Safety). Food below that temp can start breeding dangerous bacteria that can cause illness.

Temps of 140 F can cause third degree burns within 6 seconds (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

So my question is this... if Disney is following the information from the state of Florida for food safety and keeping the cheese at a safe temp (140 F or above), this product can cause the burns seen within 6 seconds. Which I can see happening. Is Disney still at "fault"? I wouldn't think so because they are following food safety regulations and, if they didn't, they would then not be following Florida state law. Instead of some kid being burned, we would have people suing for getting a food born illness.

So, how could these burns now be the fault of Disney?

 

[jcb]

I posted this on another thread...

Okay, so what I can find online...

Hot food must be kept at a temp of 140 F or above to be out of the "danger zone" (Florida Division of Food Safety). Food below that temp can start breeding dangerous bacteria that can cause illness.

Temps of 140 F can cause third degree burns within 6 seconds (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

So my question is this... if Disney is following the information from the state of Florida for food safety and keeping the cheese at a safe temp (140 F or above), this product can cause the burns seen within 6 seconds. Which I can see happening. Is Disney still at "fault"? I wouldn't think so because they are following food safety regulations and, if they didn't, they would then not be following Florida state law. Instead of some kid being burned, we would have people suing for getting a food born illness.

So, how could these burns now be the fault of Disney?

This is a tricky question to answer. In some situations, compliance with regulations such as this can be a defense. It is very specific to the jurisdiction and I do not know how Florida law treats this. What usually happens in this situation is that the plaintiff argues (to take this situation for example) the cheese was significantly hotter than it needed to be to comply with state health code requirements.

 

[Cherinva]

I think it's a shame no matter how you slice it.....sad for the child and sad for Disney. I hope something can be worked out.

I do want to add, when my kids were that age, I didn't allow them to get that close to anything hot...just sayin

 

[WaltD4Me]

I think it's a shame no matter how you slice it.....sad for the child and sad for Disney. I hope something can be worked out.

I do want to add, when my kids were that age, I didn't allow them to get that close to anything hot...just sayin

It is sad. Poor little guy. A burn like that is horrible.

I think this was truly an accident, I don't think Disney is totally at fault or his parents. From the story, I can see how the cheese spilled, if that is how it happened, it doesn't mean the parents weren't being careful, they didn't know the little boy would grab the tray to keep from falling. And I don't think Disney knew the cheese wasn't just hot, it was scalding. I've gotten cheese like that before, yes, it's hot, but I don't ever remember getting it scalding hot.

 

[jcb]

I've modified the first post to note that there is a proposed settlement.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=39910797&postcount=1

direct link to news story:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/news/General_Disney_News/Hot_nacho_cheese_lawsuit_to_be_settled.htm

 

[Justin Jett]

I've modified the first post to note that there is a proposed settlement.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=39910797&postcount=1

direct link to news story:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/news/General_Disney_News/Hot_nacho_cheese_lawsuit_to_be_settled.htm

You the man, Jack!

 

[soupy11]

33% for the lawyers.

 

[GrumpyFan]

This story, and now the settlement, just make me sick. I know I'm a bit jaded, but I see no negligence or wrong-doing by Disney to cause this. They served hot food to a guest, who then spilled it on themselves. The negligence was on the part of the guest, or in this case, the guests parents. I think this sets a potentially bad precedence and could cause many more guests to be "injured" by hot food or in other ways at Disney. How do they deal with a guest who now spills coffee or soup on themselves and gets burned? What about somebody who gets sick or frightened while riding a ride? Can those people now sue? I've got a bad feeling about this...

If it were me and my child, I would be upset at the incident, but more at myself for not watching more cafefully to avoid the incident in the first place, not at Disney, and I certainly wouldn't be suing. Hot cheese or coffee or soup should be treated carefully around small children, because it can cause burns! Helloooo!?!? Does this make sense???

At the least, Disney should have offered to pay their medical bills, and refund their vacation, but certainly not a $50,000 settlement.

 

[ougrad86]

I think I heard there was a mishap with a loose leg on the table or chair that caused the incident - it's been awhile since I read, but I think that was what happened. I saw a picture, I'm surprised that there is not a scar, the burn on his face was quite horrible.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Somewhat off topic, but I thought you might enjoy the laugh.

This story gave me flash back from years ago. It involved my blowing out a flaming marshmallow. Unfortunately someone bumped into the coat hanger I was using as my stick and guess where the marshmallow landed! It is funny now but it wasn't then. Anyone every try to blow flames off of their own face? It doesn't work.