Would you also sue a tee shop or cafe if you spilled the freshly boiled pot of water that any good tea shop brings to your table?
More specifically, if you put a cup of 180 degree+ tea between your legs and squeezed it, like Stella did, would you blame the tea shop when it predictably spills in your lap?
I would blame a tea shop for serving me a beverage so hot that it was undrinkable to the point of severely injuring me, yeah. If I spilled a cup of coffee on myself I would expect a light scalding, maybe a bit of redness, and laugh it off. I wouldn’t expect to need skin grafts.
It sounds like you're exactly the sort of delicate person TFA is talking about :)
In that case, in order to keep you safe, you'll want to avoid all beverage shops and restaurants, since they all generally follow the the NCA recommendations that coffee be held and served at around 180-185 deg F (~80-85 deg C), which is around the temperature at which Stella was burned. This would be very dangerous for someone like you!
And I hate to tell you this... but it's not just beverage shops and restaurants. Domestic coffee makers also follow the NCA guidelines. Your Mr. Coffee machine holds coffee at around 185 deg F, which will melt your skin just like it did to Stella. And definitely don't attempt to make tea, because the first step is usually involves putting on a kettle to boil.
You'll probably need to stay out of the kitchen altogether. Steaming vegetables is where I've gotten the most burns for some reason. You won't want to try to make pasta, which always involves large quantities of boiling water. And don't even think about using a stove or oven, where temperatures are easily double or triple that of boiling water. That's just a lawsuit waiting to happen!
This is just the temperature hazards. I imagine you don't use knives, which can be quite sharp, although I suppose you could always try suing the knifemaker if a kinfe turns to be unexpectedly sharp. And obviously you'll want to stay far away from the mother of all hazards: cars. Unfortunately, even though cars kill more people than any other machine in history, people like you have been largely unsuccessful in suing carmakers for defects such as excessive speed or ability to drive into objects.
Overall, my recommendation is that you hire someone for anything more complicated than watching TV.
Your response is extremely condescending and expresses more that you were interested in making me feel bad about myself than you engaging with me in good faith.
No, I'm trying to point out that you have very unrealistic expectations of the world you live in. This is very simple: beverages such as tea and coffee are brewed, held, and served at temperatures that make them extrememly dangerous if you spill them on yourself. This isn't my opinion. At the risk of repeating myself: when Stella was injured, McDonalds' corporate policy required coffee to be held at 180-190 deg F. This is nearly identical to the range recommended by professional coffee associations like the NCA, who TODAY recommend that coffee be held and served at around 180-185 deg F (~80-85 deg C) [1]. This temperature range was, and still is, used by nearly every coffee shop, restaurant, and domestic coffee machine.
So if you personally can't handle the risk of dangerously hot beverages, then you'll want to be sure to specifically ask, everywhere you go, for warm coffee. Starbucks has a procedure to accommodate people like you, which I believe involves simply setting the cup aside for a while to cool before they give it to you. (EDIT: I hear Starbucks actually has a more flexible process and equipment settings which can "officially" accomodate a range of service preferences, so that might really be the place you want to go).
If you want to make coffee for yourself, you'll need to come up with a procedure that's safe for you. Don't use a coffee maker; like I said, my Mr. Coffee machine holds coffee at around 185 deg F. So does yours. Look it up. Remember that this is right around the temperature that melted Stella's flesh.
I and most other people prefer coffee that has been brewed, held, and served at the proper temperature, which is why those standards exist and are almost universally used. And I'm extremely grateful that Stella's hot coffee lawsuit didn't ruin it for everybody; I felt really bad for her, and I don't begrudge her medical bills being paid, but I'm very glad her lawsuit had no lasting effect beyond sterner warnings on coffee cups.
Folks like yourself who for whatever reason don't want to be exposed to that danger are in a difficult position, and you need to take responsibility for your special needs, as it were. You will not be successful in suing for "excessively" hot coffee; Stella's lawsuit was pretty much a one-off, and personal injury lawyers have mostly moved on to suing over defective lids instead of excessive temperatures [2].
My comparison with knives and other common hazards is not merely academic. I've come very close to losing fingers and my eyesight to knives and other cutting tools. And you will not be successful in suing the maker or seller of knife that turns out to be "excessively" sharp. Just an example.
More specifically, if you put a cup of 180 degree+ tea between your legs and squeezed it, like Stella did, would you blame the tea shop when it predictably spills in your lap?