Episode
FIGHTING BACK - YOU'VE BEEN LIED TO: STELLA LIEBECK AND THE McDONALD'S HOT COFFEE CASE
- Published
- May 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1119
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/daily-crime-and-justice-celebrity-trials-true-crime-law-and-justice-7323167/episodes/fighting-back-you-ve-been-lied-to-stella-liebeck-and-the-mcdonald-s-hot-coffee-case/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/daily-crime-and-justice-celebrity-trials-true-crime-law-and-justice-7323167/fighting-back-you-ve-been-lied-to-stella-liebeck-and-the-mcdonald-s-hot-coffee-case.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
A 79-year-old grandmother. Third-degree burns across 16 percent of her body . Eight days in the hospital. And a corporation that spent millions making her the punchline. Garret Fisher takes on one of the most successfully distorted stories in American legal history: Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants. Almost everything the public thinks it knows about this case is wrong — and that's not an accident. McDonald's coffee in 1992 was served 30 to 40 degrees hotter than any competitor, hot enough to cause third-degree burns in under three seconds. The company had received more than 700 burn complaints. Stella Liebeck asked for $20,000 to cover her medical bills. McDonald's offered $800. What happened next — in the courtroom and in the press — is a masterclass in how corporations use public relations to rewrite the story of their own negligence. Join our new FB groups page here. Take the poll! Join the Daily Crime & Justice community on social media! We're building a passionate group of true crime enthusiasts who love diving deep into the most shocking cases in America. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram by searching "Daily Crime & Justice" on either platform. You'll get exclusive behind-the-scenes content, breaking news updates on cases we're covering, and early alerts when new episodes drop. Our social media is where Garret Fisher's hottest takes live, including reactions that don't make it into the show. But more importantly, it's where YOU come in. Share your theories, debate the verdicts, and connect with fellow listeners who are just as obsessed with justice as you are. Did the jury get it right? What questions do you still have? Your comments and insights often shape future episodes. We cover the trials that matter, but our community makes the conversation unfo…