A Los Angeles jury has awarded $50 million to a man who suffered “catastrophic” burns after a cup of scalding hot tea spilt onto his lap at a Starbucks Drive-Thru.
The incident happened in February 2020, when delivery driver Michael Garcia used Starbucks’ Drive-Thru service.
The barista handed him a tray full of drinks, at least one overturned. CCTV footage captures the moment the boiling tea spilt on Mr Garcia.
He had ordered three venti-sized ‘medicine ball’ hot teas, a wellness drink which includes lemonade, honey and mint tea.
The lawsuit said the barista “negligently” failed to properly secure one of the drinks into the to-go carrier.
The unsecured cup fell directly into Mr Garcia’s lap within 1.4 seconds of him taking possession of the tray, with the lid popping off and hot tea leaving him with third-degree burns.
The spilt tea left Mr Garcia with “life-changing” injuries including permanent injury to his genitals.
Lawyers say that he’s already had multiple surgeries and that he still experiences pain every day. On top of this, they say that he suffers from severe PTSD.
Nicholas Rowley added, “Michael Garcia’s life has been forever changed.”
“No amount of money can undo the permanent catastrophic harm he has suffered, but this jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility.”
It took a jury in Los Angeles around 40 minutes to come to an agreement that Mr Garcia should be awarded damages.
In response to the verdict, Starbucks said: “We sympathise with Mr Garcia, but we disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive.
“We plan to appeal. We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks.”
Starbucks had tried to settle with Mr Garcia before the trial.
They first offered $3 million, later increasing that amount to $30 million to settle.
Mr Garcia agreed, but under the condition that they apologise, change their policies and issue a memo to all store locations to double-check their hot drinks before handing them to customers, attorneys said.
When they declined to agree to those terms, the jury eventually decided to award Mr Garcia with Friday’s total.
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