McDonald's appealed that decision.
The trial court subsequently reduced the punitive award to $480,000 -- or three times compensatory damages -- even though the judge called McDonalds' conduct reckless, callous and willful.
No one will ever know the final ending to this case.
The parties eventually entered into a secret settlement which has never been revealed to the public, despite the fact that this was a public case, litigated in public and subjected to extensive media reporting. Such secret settlements, after public trials, should not be condoned. Source
From my point of view, the coffee was handed from a McDonalds employee to the woman's grandson. He then handed the coffee to her. McDonald's is now twice removed from the accident. The Grandson then accelerated quickly, causing the coffee to spill. McDonalds has absolutely NO WAY to control the driving habits of it's customers. I find it amazing that this trivial accident even made it to trial; let alone resulted in someone winning the 'legal lottery'.