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Topics: Food and Drink, US News, Starbucks
Britt Jones
Starbucks has been ordered to pay out $50 million to a man who suffered 'life-changing' injuries to his genitals after they were severely 'burned' by hot tea.
Michael Garcia, a delivery driver in California, was waiting at a drive-thru for his drink when it spilled on his lap, according to a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court.
After the February 8, 2020, incident, Garcia has had to undergo various procedures to correct the 'disfigurement' caused by the beverage, including skin grafts and other treatments.
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His attorneys claim that the venti-sized Starbucks drink immediately fell onto his crotch area after he bought it, resulting in injuries which were permanent and 'life-changing'.
A Los Angeles County jury has since ruled in his favor after finding that an employee of the coffee chain improperly secured the drink into the takeout tray before passing it to him in his vehicle.
Following the verdict, Garcia’s attorney, Nick Rowley, wrote in a statement: “This jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility.”
However, Starbucks isn’t as hot on the jury’s vote and plans to appeal the decision.
As per NBC, a company spokesperson wrote in a statement that the establishment ‘disagrees’ with the ruling, stating: “We disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive. We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks.”
UNILAD reached out to Starbucks for comment.
This isn’t the first time a case against a popular chain has been carried out due to alleged scalding beverages, as the infamous 1990s case against McDonald's is still remembered by many.
It all began when Stella Liebeck suffered third-degree burns after a coffee spilled on her lap, awarding her nearly $3 million in damages.
The amount was later changed by a trial judge to $480,000 and the compensatory damages to $160,000.
In another instance, a girl named Olivia Caraballo was awarded $800,000 in South Florida after a hot Happy Meal Chicken McNugget fell into her lap at four years old in 2019.
And in May 2023, Genesis Monita sued Bill Miller BAR-B-Q as she allegedly ended up suffering a second-degree burn after dropping one of the sauces on her lap.
She accused the restaurant of making the sauce too hot and said she had not been sufficiently warned about its temperature beforehand.
The lawsuit alleged the sauce was 'served at 189 degrees' and 'when Monita took the container of bar-b-que sauce it was so hot that it caused her to drop the container and spill the sauce on her right thigh causing a second-degree burn,' stated KSAT.
The lawsuit went on to claim that the sauce was 54 degrees higher than the state’s guidelines, which is reportedly 135 degrees.
At this point, I might just eat at home.