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Lawsuit could force McDonald's to cancel Russian summer - paper

MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - McDonald's could be forced to close all its summer verandas in Russia as a long-running lawsuit over a spilled cup of coffee took an unexpected turn, respected daily Izvestia reported Thursday.

Olga Kuznetsova, from the Moscow-suburb of Khimki, started legal proceedings against the fastfood giant after hot coffee spilled over her in her local McDonald's on May 5, 2004. She claimed a swinging door hit her while she was walking onto the restaurant's terrace with a full tray and demanded 900,000 rubles ($33,300) in damages.

Izvestia said the hearings had taken on wider repercussions for the chain after an expert examination ordered by McDonald's showed Wednesday that the building should have had automatic sliding doors installed if it wanted to have a terrace.

The plaintiff now plans to demand that McDonald's terraces be closed in Khimki first and then all over the country, the paper said.

Originally, Kuznetsova only wanted 60,000 rubles in damages from the company but McDonald's lawyers said she had nobody to blame but herself because the paper cup carried a warning that the coffee was hot, which prompted her to go to court.

"McDonald's top managers have not offered any 'peace deal' yet," she said. "Since that incident, I do not go to McDonald's and have banned my daughter from going there too."

At the hearing on Wednesday, McDonald's representatives tried to get the case dismissed, but the court ruled to convene the next session on July 18.

This is a rare case involving a fastfood chain in Russia, though America has accumulated experience of litigation with restaurants. Stella Libeck, 79, from New Mexico won $125,000 in damages after burning herself by spilling hot coffee from McDonald's in February 1994 when she was in her car.