McMahon v. Bunn-O-Matic Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
150 F.3d 651 (7th Cir. 1998)
McMahon (plaintiff) suffered second- and third-degree burns after spilling a cup of gas-station coffee on herself, and sued Bunn-O-Matic Corp. (Bunn) (defendant), the coffee machine's manufacturer, claiming Bunn failed to warn consumers about the severity of hot-coffee burns and that its machines produced coffee too hot to be safe. McMahon acknowledged she already knew hot coffee could burn but claimed she did not appreciate how severe such burns could be; the district court granted Bunn summary judgment, and McMahon appealed.
Whether an overly detailed warning about a product's danger is required if the general public is aware that the product is dangerous in general.