summarize this text$-$ "Stella Liebeck, the $79-$year$-$old woman who was severely burned by McDonald$$s coffee that she spilled in her lap in $1992,$ was unfairly held up as an example of frivolous litigation in the public eye. But the facts of the case tell a very different story. The coffee that burned Stella Liebeck was dangerously hot$$hot enough to cause third$-$degree burns, even through clothes, in three seconds. Liebeck endured third$-$degree burns over $16$ percent of her body, including her inner thighs and genitals$$the skin was burned away to the layers of muscle and fatty tissue. She had to be hospitalized for eight days, and she required skin grafts and other treatment. Her recovery lasted two years.

Liebeck offered to settle the case for $$20,000,$ but the company refused. McDonald$$s offered Liebeck only $$800$which did not even cover her medical expenses. When the case went to trial, the jurors saw graphic photos of Liebeck$$s burns. They heard experts testify about how hot coffee should be and that McDonald$$s coffee was $30$ to $40$ degrees hotter than coffee served by other companies. The jury learned that $700$ other people$$including children$$had been burned before, yet the company did not change its policy of keeping coffee at between $180$ and $190$ degrees. The company knew its coffee was causing serious burns, but it decided that, with billions of cups served annually, this number of burns was not significant.

The goal of the lawsuit was to try to right a wrong. $$We knew, before the lawsuit was filed, that the temperature of the water was $190$ degrees or so$,$ and the franchise documents required that of the franchisee,$$ said Kenneth Wagner, an Albuquerque lawyer who represented Liebeck. Most home coffee makers produce coffee that is between $135$ and $150$ degrees, he added."