Salem Progressive Film Series
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Grand Theater
Film “Hot Coffee”
With speaker Mic Anderson
The McDonald’s “Hot Coffee” trial is arguably the most famous legal event in the last fifty years. The elderly woman who sued McDonald’s for millions and won a big settlement has entered into popular imagination as few stories do. Even the O.J. Simpson case, which once dominated our consciousness, has paled in comparison; young people born since 1995 – the general time both trials took place – usually know only vaguely of the O.J. verdict now, though they may recognize the image of Simpson wincing as he tries on a glove. But the old lady and her successful lawsuit are referred to constantly, casually and knowingly. We enviously strategize our own jackpot – or we despise the plaintiff for her greed.
According to the film playing at the Grand on February 9, our understanding of the McDonald’s incident is completely wrong. “Hot Coffee,” the 88-minute, 2011 film directed by Susan Saladoff, an Oregonian living in Ashland, begins by asserting that nearly everything we thought we knew about the case is a lie, and goes on to examine the reason we’ve been scammed into believing what we do. Saladoff proposes that enormously large and well-funded forces in America have purposely eroded our ability to receive a fair trial in many civil matters. Juries’ right to decide damages have been undermined and even citizens’ rights to a hearing by an unbiased State Supreme Court has eroded. The movie shows how the ability of each of us to fight large entities that may have genuinely harmed us has been deliberately limited by systematic and often immoral actions by energy, medical, tobacco and pharmaceutical corporations, chambers of commerce and powerful, privileged players like Karl Rove.
The film covers a huge range of subjects without being complicated or boring. It moves swiftly and entertainingly into the lives of families damaged by a legal system that was originally intended to protect them. It introduces the subject “tort reform,” an issue that affects us all but few of us understands. It makes that topic easy to grasp and clearly presents stories in a way anyone can follow. Something interesting is constantly on-screen. Numerous cut-aways to folks on the street expressing their (inaccurate) preconceptions make viewers who are also new to these ideas feel comfortable and accepted.
In “Hot Coffee” we meet a young woman raped by Halliburton employees in Iraq who has been denied the right to face her accusers for years; twin boys who live very different lives because of the severe brain damage in one caused by an easily preventable medical error, and a Mississippi Supreme Court Judge who was run off the court by a powerfully funded, bitter smear campaign because he believed in the rights of average people. The matter-of-fact lack of self-pity shown by every “victim,” without exception, is testament to their courage and dignity.
Without hysteria or paranoia the film presents the PR campaign that has changed the public’s view of personal injury suits. It shows the unlimited corporate spending that has gradually switched our system over to arbitration agreements and caps on damages; policies which, the film claims, not only do not protect society in general, but also actually put our least powerful members at risk for injustice and boost the costs the rest of us pay.
Mic Anderson, former Oregon Trial Lawyer Association President and recipient of numerous awards, will be on hand to lead a discussion following the film. Anderson has had extensive experience in matters introduced by “Hot Coffee” and has advised several Oregon legislatures on them. In conversation with Salem Weekly, Mr. Anderson said he’s seen many examples of how people’s rights have been limited “to maximize profits for entities unwilling to take responsibility for their actions.” Anderson has become bothered by the “pollution of public attitude towards injured people,” caused by out-and-out falsehoods he’s seen both in media and in his work with legislatures.
“One anecdotal story that has been repeated in nearly every state considering tort reform is about a man who trimmed his hedge with a lawnmower, injured himself – and got a huge settlement.” This tale was told in legislatures from Vermont to Texas, and caused appropriate indignation in all who heard it. There was only one problem: hard research determined that the incident never happened. “One advantage of us,” Anderson says, “is that we usually have truth on our side.”
The McDonald’s Hot Coffee trial has been entrenched in popular culture so deeply that a reference to it – even these years later – can still get a laugh in almost any crowd. The truth of what actually happened will be a startling revelation to most viewers. Although this article has no intention of revealing the actual facts of the case, curious persons are encouraged to attend the Progressive Film Series evening on February 9 to find out for themselves. This reviewer promises you will not be bored, and you won’t be disappointed!
