A jury in Los Angeles, California has ordered Starbucks to pay $50 million to a delivery driver who was burned by hot water that spilled.
The lawsuit was filed by Michael G., a delivery driver who was burned at a drive-thru window for Starbucks when he was handed the drinks.
The jury was shown a surveillance video showing him being burned about 1.4 seconds after a cup filled with extremely hot water for tea tipped over as he received it from the Starbucks drive-thru window.
The hot water was not properly secured, unlike two drinks next to it, attorneys said. They blamed his injuries on defectively designed cups.
His lawyers warned that the Starbucks cups were too tall and top-heavy when filled to the brim with hot water. This design could make the cups prone to falling out of the cardboard carrying container.
After about a half-day of deliberations, the jury was unanimous in finding Starbucks to be 100% liable for the incident.
A spokeswoman for Starbucks disagreed with the jury and said they plan to appeal: “We sympathize 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.”
His lawsuit was filed against Starbucks Corp. in the Superior Court of the State of California (County of Los Angeles) — Case Number 20STCV10214