Prompt : You are to select one scenario and write a response to it detailing what you will do as an operations manager.

In your response, please provide strong justifications for the stance and action you will take. You can rely on real$-$life or illustrative examples to drive your point home.

Ethical Dilemma $($Managing Quality$)$

A lawsuit a few years ago made headlines worldwide when a McDonald$$s drive$-$through

customer spilled a cup of scalding hot coffee on herself. Claiming the coffee was too hot to

be safely consumed in a car, the badly burned $80-$year$-$old woman won $$2\mathrm{.}9$ million in court.

$($The judge later reduced the award to $$640,000.)$ McDonald$$s claimed the product was

served to the correct specifications and was of proper quality. Further, the cup read

$$Caution$$Contents May Be Hot.$$ McDonald$$s coffee, at $180\backslash$deg $,$ is substantially hotter $($by

corporate rule$)$ than typical restaurant coffee, despite hundreds of coffee scalding complaints

in the past $10$ years. Similar court cases, incidentally, resulted in smaller verdicts, but again in

favor of the plaintiffs. For example, Motor City Bagel Shop was sued for a spilled cup of

coffee by a drive$-$through patron, and Starbucks by a customer who spilled coffee on her own

ankle.