Starbucks hit with $50 million fine for spilled drink injury
www.voanews.com
Delivery driver says tea burned him

A California jury Friday imposed a $50 million fine on Starbucks in the case of a delivery driver burned by a scalding cup of hot tea at a company location in Los Angeles.

Michael Garcia was picking up three drinks in 2020 but one, he claimed, was “negligently” unsecured and spilled in his lap. He claimed that he consequently “suffered severe burns, disfigurement, and debilitating nerve damage to his genitals” and he was taken to an emergency room by paramedics.

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
    01·
    1 month ago

    Absolutely insane!! WTF is wrong with you USA?
    This wasn’t due to just the servers mistake. He spilled it on himself, holding 3 drinks while sitting down. Clearly he has part of the blame himself.

    • keckbug@lemmy.world
      1·
      1 month ago

      Garcia was later treated at the renowned Grossman Burn Center, where he received not one but two skin grafts on his penis. Garcia’s attorney, Trial Lawyers for Justice co-founder Nick Rowley, said Garcia’s penis was permanently discolored and disfigured, with less length and less girth.

      Rowley said the key evidence during the trial was the surveillance footage of the incident taken from inside the coffee shop. Rowley said the footage clearly showed the barista secure two of the cups in the caddie but not the third, causing it to spill less than two seconds after Garcia took it into the car.

      https://www.courthousenews.com/starbucks-hit-with-50-million-jury-verdict-for-hot-tea-that-scalded-and-disfigured-postmates-drivers-penis/

      He didn’t hold 3 drinks, he was handed a drink carrier and one of the drinks was negligently secured. The jury took 40 minutes to determine that Starbucks was at fault, and Starbucks themselves offered $3m and $30m settlements at different points. How much do you think two skin grafts to your genitalia are worth?