IMHO there still has to be some assumption of risk by the plaintiff.

Anyway, this was avoidable if she would have just applied a simple rule:

If you don't drive in your kitchen, then you shouldn't eat/drink in your car! :)

As far as I know the lawsuit settlement was lowered in court. Probably because there is no standard law to regulate how hot a freshly brewed cup of coffee should be. She dropped it in her lap. Its not light she was burnt by holding the cup. Her own actions resulted in her getting the burns. Some common sense and willingness to take responsibility for your own actions goes a long way. My main point with regards to lawsuits is that just because there is a class action suit, does not mean the person or business being sued was ever in the wrong. There have been an alarming number of cases in this country of people and businesses getting sued over the most ridiculous things. A more recent case involved a driver with a suspended license who was speeding around a corner and rammed a fire truck which was on site performing a rescue of another vehicle. The firefighters pretty much saved the guys ass then he turned around and tried suing them; citing that the firetruck was parked too far in the road thus forcing him to have the accident. Fortunately camera footage from the scene revealed that the guy was actually over the yellow line before hitting the firetruck. Mind you his license was suspended and he should not have been behind the wheel in the first place. Then you have celebrities like Bill Cosby and Michael Jackson. Out of the blue a "victim" accuses them of sexual assualt or rape then before 2 long 2 dozen women are filing a big ass lawsuit claiming they were all rapped or assualted many many years ago. No evidence nor credible witnesses. Its bull**** and Im not buying most of it.