JAKARTA - A judge in California, United States in the middle of this month ordered Starbucks to pay $50 million in damages to an introductory driver who suffered severe burns due to a heat drink cap that was not properly packaged.
Michael Garcia was picking up a drive-through drink in Los Angeles when he "went severe burns, defects and weakened nerve damage to his genitals as hot drinks eventually spilled" into his lap, according to a lawsuit filed in the California High Court in 2020.
The lawsuit alleges Starbucks violated its prudence duties by not securing its packaging cap.
Michael Parker, Garcia's lawyer, said his client was taking three drinks and one of the hot drinks was not fully put into the container. When barista handed over orders to Garcia, a drink fell from the container and hit Garcia, Parker said, as reported by CNN March 14.
Garcia's losses include physical pain, mental suffering, loss of pleasure in life, humiliation, discomfort, sadness, defects, physical disorders, anxiety, and emotional stress, according to a recording of the verdict from Courtroom View Network.
Starbucks said it plans to appeal the ruling.
"We sympathize with Garcia, but we disagree with the jury's decision that we are guilty of this incident and believe the compensation given is too excessive," a company spokesman said in a statement.
SEE ALSO:
"We are always committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including handling hot drinks," he added.
The lawsuit reminded the famous 1994 lawsuit against McDonald's. At that time, a woman spilled hot coffee on her lap and suffered third-degree burns. Plaintiff in the case, Stella Liebeck, was initially compensated for nearly $3 million.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
