If you could sue over an accident with hot coffee, by the same logic you could sue Makita if you cut your finger off with a power saw. The product was functioning exactly as it should, you just happened to have an accident due to your own carelessness. Hot liquids are dangerous just as power tools are dangerous and each should be handled with a modicum of caution.

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Not entirely true. Power tools are sold with safety devices. Following the McDonald's model, let's say Skil has been selling HD77 worm drive circular saws with malfunctioning blade guards. Well, since I use one nearly every day I can tell you that without a doubt you *should* be of sound enough skills that you can operate the saw without the guard (largely because I have mine tied back). Anyway, say that Skil continued to manufacture these saws despite repeated warnings from the government after a number of accidents. They KNOW they are selling a potentially dangerous product and continue anyway.

The way I see it, the McDonald's case is similar. Serving their product at a temperature that the government (sorry) has determined to be unsafe. No different than a tool company selling a product with malfunctioning safety devices. Pretty much every tool has a safety feature of some sort, blade guard for circular saws, guard for angle grinders, so on.