Entertaining transaction

The Muscovite withdrew her lawsuit against the McDonald's restaurant network, an unexpected denouement occurred in the lawsuit of the Muscovite of the Muscovite Olga Kuznetsova, who spent the stomach with hot coffee purchased at McDonald's. The Butyrsky court of the capital yesterday terminated the proceedings in connection with the fact that the applicant revoked her lawsuit. Apparently, Kuznetsova managed to reach a compromise with the defendant, who offered her a certain compensation for resolving the issue in an out -of -court order.

The trial in this loud civil case lasted since June last year. Olga Kuznetsova - an accountant of one of the capital's firms - first asked to recover 100 thousand rubles from McDonald's LLC, but then increased the amount by almost nine times. The final claims amounted to 500 rubles for treatment and 900 thousand rubles as moral compensation.

As the newspaper said, the incident with Kuznetsova occurred on May 5, 2004, when she stopped to eat at McDonald's at Khimki near Moscow. According to her, it was hot in the hall and she decided to go to the terrace. “In one hand, I held a tray of food, and the other tried to open the door. However, it turned out to be too tight and suddenly slammed shut, hitting the tray. Coffee resulted in me. I asked the staff to bring me something from burns. They gave me only an ice towel,” the woman told the court. Later, doctors diagnosed: "Burn with boiling water of the abdominal wall of the 1st and 2nd degree." The lawyers who represented her interests indicated that the defendant violated the law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”: “The consumer has the right to ensure that the goods under the usual conditions of its use be safe for the health of the consumer, and also does not harm the property of the consumer. The damage caused due to defects in the goods is subject to compensation by the contractor.”

Meanwhile, the defendant did not recognize the claims. Representatives of McDonald's LLC referred to the fact that in the middle part of a paper glass for hot drinks there was a warning inscription in Russian "Caution, hot!" "The presence of an appropriate inscription on the glass ensures the safety of goods for consumers," the restaurant administration said.

The trial should have resumed in October after the next forensic examination. However, as lawyer Petr Dombrovitsky, who represented Kuznetsova’s interests in the court, told Gazeta, shortly before that, the plaintiff received a message by e -mail, in which she was invited to contact the legal service of McDonald's in order to make an “acceptable” decision to stop the dispute. “During the meeting, representatives of McDonald's reported that the lawsuit negatively affects the company's image, and offered to pay Kuznetsova compensation in the amount of 125 thousand rubles,” the lawyer said. “At the same time, they put forward the condition that Kuznetsova would remove the claims and refuse to communicate with the press.” According to Dombrovitsky, he refused to stop the dispute on these conditions and in response proposed to conclude a settlement agreement that the court would approve. However, McDonald's rejected this option.

But, apparently, Later Kuznetsova changed her mind and still agreed to McDonald's proposal: she did not come to the last two meetings, and then sent a statement to the court that she was abandoning her claim. “I took advantage of my right and will not give any comment on this occasion,” she told the newspaper correspondent by phone.

For Pyotr Dombrovitsky, who could not attend yesterday's meeting, the court decision was a surprise. Although, he admitted to the "newspaper", on the eve of his client warned that she would not be in court, and asked not to give any comments. The lawyer did not rule out that Kuznetsova could conclude a certain agreement with McDonald's.

In turn, the director of public relations by McDonald's in Russia Svetlana Polyakova refused to comment on the court decision, and about a possible transaction said that she did not know anything about this.

11/01/2006 / Maria Lokotetsk material published in the newspaper No. 201 dated 02.11.2006.