A Los Angeles County jury says Starbucks is answerable for accidents of a buyer burned throughout a botched drive-through drink handoff — to the tune of $50 million.
L.A. resident Michael Garcia claimed that he was severely burned in 2020 after his tray of scorching teas “caved in on itself,” he stated in a deposition. First one, then one other scorching drink toppled onto his lap, their lids popping off. He suffered extreme burns, together with to his genitalia, he claimed.
Garcia accused Starbucks of negligence, and produced a retailer safety video that appeared to point out that one of many Venti-sized drinks sat askew within the tray as a barista handed the order to him via a drive-through window.
Jurors on Friday agreed, and ordered the Seattle-based firm to pay Garcia $50 million for previous and future injury that embrace ache and struggling.
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Starbucks stated it plans to enchantment the decision.
“We sympathize with Mr. Garcia, however we disagree with the jury’s determination that we have been at fault for this incident and imagine the damages awarded to be extreme,” Starbucks Director of Company Communications Jaci Anderson stated Saturday in a press release to The Instances. “We now have all the time been dedicated to the best security requirements in our shops, together with the dealing with of scorching drinks.”
The award harks again to civil court docket judgments towards McDonald’s after a jury in 1994 awarded $3 million to an Albuquerque lady who was scalded by scorching espresso. Stella Liebeck, who was 79, suffered third-degree burns that required a number of pores and skin grafts. Her attorneys had argued McDonald’s had a historical past of tons of of shopper damage complaints.
A decide later enormously diminished the award, however the McDonald’s case was often cited in campaigns for limits on tort awards.
Garcia’s attorneys didn’t reply instantly to a Instances request for remark however instructed one other information outlet that Starbucks carried some accountability for the actions of its barista, who in keeping with court docket information stated she didn’t bear in mind the incident.
“This jury verdict is a crucial step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for buyer security and failure to simply accept accountability,” certainly one of Garcia’s attorneys, Nick Rowley, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
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The incident described within the lawsuit occurred on Feb. 8, 2020, at a Starbucks drive-through in Exposition Park. Garcia, a then-25-year-old Postmates supply driver, was choosing up an order of three Venti scorching teas. They have been served to him in a cardboard drink service.
Sooner or later through the handoff, two of the teas fell from the service and spilled onto Garcia’s lap, leaving him with “horrific burn accidents that required a number of surgical procedures” and “everlasting disfigurement” to his groin area, in keeping with court docket paperwork reviewed by The Instances. Medical information filed within the case present he underwent two pores and skin grafts and suffered lasting ache and sexual dysfunction.
Garcia blamed the spill on a barista, whom he claimed “didn’t securely fasten the lids of every scorching beverage that have been negligently, carelessly and recklessly served to Plaintiff.” He testified that from the beginning he may see the lid on one of many drinks was not set in place.
Starbucks in its preliminary response argued that Garcia didn’t maintain “any damage, injury or loss by cause of any act or omission” by its workers, court docket paperwork stated.
Throughout the trial, the corporate additional alleged some fault lay with Garcia on account of “contributory negligence,” the paperwork stated.
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Earlier than the jury trial, Starbucks supplied Garcia $3 million — and later $30 million — to settle, CBS News reported.
Garcia agreed on the situation that the corporate apologize and alter its insurance policies, together with including a requirement that every one workers double-check that scorching drinks are safe earlier than giving them to prospects, the CBS report stated. Starbucks refused the phrases, and the case went to trial.
South Los Angeles resident Muriel Evans filed a similar lawsuit towards Starbucks in 2024, alleging she suffered vital nerve injury and disfigurement after a barista mishandled a cup of espresso and spilled it in her lap. Attorneys within the case accused Starbucks of “reckless disregard” for buyer security by serving scorching drinks in faulty cups “regardless of numerous experiences and warnings.”
Evans’ jury trial is scheduled for February 2026.
This story initially appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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