The story itself is quite tragic, and indeed everything you say is true. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the warning label “CAUTION: Contents hot” o

The story itself is quite tragic, and indeed everything you say is true. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the warning label “CAUTION: Contents hot” on a paper cup is indeed pretty useless and likely exists as a result of this lawsuit — not because it will actually keep anyone from burning themselves (for that goal, you’d want it to say some variant of “our coffee is much hotter than what you make at home”), but because a bunch of lawyers thought it would make for an easier defense next time. That’s the root cause right there.