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I'm guessing you are referring to the McDonald's suit that was highly publicized a few years ago. Never underestimate the power of large corporations to "spin" a complaint into something different.

The McDonald's suit was a case brought in response to _repeated_ complaints to McDonald's that the lids on their coffee cups were improperly designed and came off when even slight pressure was applied to the side of the cup. It used to happen to me regularly. The cup would be sitting on the transmission hump beside me, and would fall over when I turned a corner and the lid would promptly pop off, just from tipping over. I'd yell "S@*t!" and swear, then try to figure a more secure way of holding the cup, stupidly "toughing it out" by thinking it was _my_ problem, and not McDonald's. The lid did not help contain the coffee, but merely kept it warm by preventing evaporation. (For those of us in the theatre business long enough, we can remember a time when the soft drink lids were equally as bad, and rivers of spilled soda running down auditorium slopes were common. Even before the McDonald's verdict, these soft drink lids were improved and much of our industry problem solved.)

MickyDs management knew about the problem with ill-fitting coffee lids from multiple complaints by customers and workers, and yet not only refused to make changes, but continued to instruct stores to serve their coffee at a temperature guaranteed to cause burns, not only to drive through customers, but to any two year old child that might tip over a cup.

The huge initial award was given because, like in our self-destructing reel situation, we have the right to assume that a product will perform it's function in the environment it was designed for, _without being a hazard to our health_. McDonald's not only refused to correct the lid problem or accept any responsibility, it's attornies successfully attempted to villify the injured party in the eyes of the general public; an action that was just plain evil.

The McDonald's case is an example why tort reform is such an insidious danger. By limiting damages collectable in lawsuits, corporations such as McDonald's and Technicolor would no longer have the incentive to correct problems. With tort reform, it literally can be cheaper for McDonald's to pay for a few people burning their crotch every year than to make a penny fix to a billion lids, or cheaper for Technicolor to avoid a fifty cent fix to an exploding film reel by paying an occasional claim for a punctured eye. The cost to businesses for promoting tort reform is miniscule, compared to the savings of not having to be accountable for their actions.

The spin that McDonald's provided to the eager news media was masterful, and shows just how easily the media (supported by corporate advertisers) can be mislead, and shows why people should never trust the popular news at face value.

Sorry for the rant, but after thinking about it, and reading the other stories here, I'm inclined to agree with Mark. You might want to contact a personal injury attorney who works on a contingency basis. You have nothing to lose, and you might help a lot of folks have a safer workplace if you win.

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I was thinking of the McDonald's lawsuit. I read about it then, but must admit I've forgotten some details now.

I'm a big believer in that people should be responsible for themselves. So, I tended to side with McDonald's in this instance. (If I remember) one reason was/is that the person had the coffee in their crotch while driving, and it spilled. There was a question whether the driver initially caused an accident, then tried to blame it on spilling coffee to reduce their blame (never resolved either way.) My thoughts:

- If a person repeatedly gets something that's not right, either take precautions, or don't buy the product. They've had warning!

- Don't be distracted while driving; driving requires 100% attention with both hands on the wheel. We know everyone violates this rule- look at any driver on a cell phone. Usually everyone gets away with it, but if he causes an accident, it's his fault. States are starting to make operating a cell phone while driving illegal. I don't see any difference between a coffee-drinker, a cell phone operator, or a cigarette smoker.

- Loose items must be secured safely while in a moving vehicle, like in a cup holder, not in a crotch.

- The cup was not designed to be held both overly tightly AND with one hand (which is what a person must do while driving.) It was designed to keep the contents from spilling out while sitting in a bag/box, etc.

Now, I think your arguments apply well to this reel situation:

- People have complained to Technicolor to no avail.

- Usually, you've never seen that particular reel before, and some cracks or broken peices are hidden, and so are unaware of its condition.

- Its purpose requires a design that should allow it to spin at high speeds safely.

I agree that damages should not be limited.(I felt GM did a stupid design thing with the truck gas tank location. I was annoyed they got off cheap at the end.)

The same thing happened to me as I broke down a movie from a platter late one night. The chunk flew across the stairs and made a huge dent in the wall. It hit the wall so hard that you could see the white drywall easilly. That dent is still there, I'm sure. It was located over a set of stairs and would be next to impossible to repair without the aid of scaffolding. When something flies that hard it can really damage a human being.

I'm sure TES's solution would be "You're spinning the reel too fast!" Even at the slowest speeds of the MUT, a reel chunk can cause serious injury.

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"Blood is thicker then blondes" - From the movie, Save the last Dance.

The company had been warned many times. A person who had never visited before could just as easily been burned.

BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if the woman who got burned had put the cup between her legs because she knew if it tipped over it would spill. Sometimes we think we can do things we can't, and we try to compensate for the stupidity of others.

You suggested the lids were designed to work in the bags. Horse hockey. The lids didn't even stay on in the bags, and the paper soda holders weren't designed for coffee cups. I've tossed more than one bag out the car window because the coffee had leaked and saturated the sugar packs, napkins, and french fries, screw the environment of the fast food restaurants in the city of Miami.

"If a person repeatedly gets something that's not right, either take precautions, or don't buy the product. They've had warning!"

I quite agree, and for me, after fully understanding the McDonald's attitude, I refuse to visit their establishments. When I'm starving and there are no dead squirrels on the side of the road, I might go back to McDonald's. Some people aren't as fussy.

The LEAST they could have done was to show some concern. Maybe offer to pay the cleaning bill or IF the injury was real, pay the doctor bills. Be "up-front" about it, you know?

So there's this guy managing a Mc Donald's making what, $25,000 a year? If he wants to keep his job he has to work with what he's given, right? Even if he KNOWS those cups are bad there's not a lot he can do if he wants to sell coffee. He has to use the cups the company sends him. So instead of making fun of the poor woman (even if she was partially at fault) he should have acted like a professional and done what was right.

If I was a "customer service" manager at Technicolor what *I* would do is just about the same thing that I suggested Mickey D's should have done... a nice letter of aplology... maybe offer to pay the medical bills... and then send a brand new can full of brand new reels to ship the print back in (free of charge)

Essentially, it's all about appearences.

That would be similar to Regal's severence package. A free pass and a bucket of stale popcorn that tastes like styrofoam.

Unfortunately Brad is out of town right now so he doesn't get as much of a chance to check the forum and post the pics. He did e-mail me the two pics so I could see them, though. I did not know they were taken two days after the incident. The cut is extremely close to her eye. Just a little over an inch and she might be blind in that eye now. She got lucky.

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I haven't written to technicolor yet but I am working on it, and also sending along the pics that brad will put up on this thread.

I didn't mean to make such a big deal out of this....I figured maybe 1 or 2 ppl would reply This is all part of the job...anyone thats says projection is easy and safe has never down it before (and yes, I have had people tell me they thought it was a cushy job).

In reponse to Jerry who said maybe we should wear a flack jacket and a xenon face shield....I will definaly take more precautions when making and breaking movies but the reels should never be that bad as to have to wear that protective gear.

The part that really bothers me about this is the movie went thru technicolors little inspection.....they looked at the reels, thats thier job, they knew "4" out of the 7 reels were broken. Why would they send a movie like this back out??? Oh wait!!! I know that answer!!! I know it, I know it....

BECAUSE ITS TECHNICOLOR!

But to continue on that little topic....I know thier little inspection only consists of looking at the beginning of the reels...there were no heads or tails on 3 of the reels....GRRRRRR. Do they just stick the little plastic green thingys on the tins and say they were inspected or do they actually look??? I really hope they never even looked in the cans, because if they did that would be pretty damn bad for them to send this movie back to me! The way I look at it....

1.) The theater that took the movie apart wanted to see if technicolor actually checked the prints...

2.) The movie got sent back to technicolor

3.) Technicolor put the little green claspy things on to say, "Yes, We know all 3 cans came back, we didn't look in it, its fine because all the cans are here in front of me"

4.) They send them back to me....

Ok, ok, I know that was dumb!

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"Blood is thicker then blondes" - From the movie, Save the last Dance.

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