Hot Coffee

HBO documentary that looks at America's litigating culture and the efforts of major corporations to have laws changed in order to protect themselves from prosecution...

"The case of the little old lady who spilled hot coffee in her lap, sued McDonald’s for millions and won is legendary. Susan Saladoff’s documentary investigates what really happened – and shows how easily American corporations can misrepresent themselves as the victims of civil suits. The notion of the ‘frivolous lawsuit’ is so widespread by now that trial lawyers, once valiant defenders of the little guy, are generally regarded as predatory opportunists. America has taken the bait, Saladoff argues, voting for so-called ‘tort reforms’ that effectively deny juries the right to assess appropriate settlements. A wider picture is drawn in three other jaw-dropping tales of civil justice eroded by corporate power." (Source: NZ International Film Festival 2011)

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