Tonight on HBO, the documentary movie Hot Coffee by Susan Saladoff, the former president of Public Justice will premier at 9 pm EST. This movie will finally provide a strong and persuasive response to the multi-billion dollar 30 year campaign of misinformation and distortion of the facts against those people who dare to attempt to hold corporate and individual wrongdoers accountable at the Courthouse. If you think you know what "tort reform" really means, then watch this movie tonight for an eye opening experience into the real life impact "tort deform" has had on real people.
The movie contains 3 stories about people or families who have either been the target of misinformation (Stella Liebeck and her McDonald’s hot coffee spill injury case) or have been subjected to the tremendous toll that tort deform has taken on individuals in this country. The documentary tells the story of a young woman said she was raped by co-employees while working for KBR in Iraq yet was unable to gain access to the Courtroom due to a mandatory aribtration clause in her employment contract with KBR. Finally, Saladoff tells the story of a Nebraska couple whose infant is born with Cerebral Palsy due to medical malpractice. A jury awards enough money to take care of the impaired child’s life care plan, but a state law putting arbitrary caps on medical malpractice caps on damages results in the verdict being slashed and leaving insufficient funds to cover the child’s medical needs.
Saladoff makes a persuasive argument that the constant drumbeat of "frivolous" lawsuits are destroying this country’s economy and holding back corporations from creating jobs has been carefully manufactured by special interests (big business, petrochemical companies, etc.) to create momentum for federal and state legislation aimed at providing immunity to corporate interests and confusing the public into thinking that the trial lawyer and the victims we represent are the enemies for daring to attempt to hold corporations and individual wrongdoers accountable at the Courthouse.
Tonight…the myth of the runaway McDonald’s jury is finally debunked for good and the public is given a lesson on the devastating effects of Tort Deform!
Don’t miss Hot Coffee!!