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Because a Starbucks customer was scalded with hot tea in a drive-in, the company is now to pay him 50 million dollars in damages. (archive picture)
Keystone
Scalded with hot tea: The coffee house chain Starbucks must pay a customer millions in compensation because a cup of hot tea was tipped into his lap at a drive-in in the US state of California.
A court in Los Angeles awarded the man 50 million dollars in damages on Friday for the severe burns he suffered as a result. The man's lawyers had argued that the waitress had not properly placed one of three drinks ordered in the paper cup holder during the incident in 2020.
When their client picked up the tray, the drink tipped over and spilled into his lap, the lawyers explained. The hot tea caused "third-degree burns to his penis, groin and inner thighs". The man then went to court.
According to his lawyers, the plaintiff had to undergo several skin grafts. He also suffers from "disfigurement, pain, dysfunction and psychological damage caused by the burns".
Starbucks told the AFP news agency that the company sympathizes with the plaintiff, but will appeal the court's decision. According to a spokeswoman, the company considers the damages awarded to be "excessive".
The case is reminiscent of a historic lawsuit against the US fast food chain McDonald's in New Mexico in 1994, when a plaintiff was awarded more than 2.8 million dollars after spilling hot coffee on herself.
18.03.2025, 01:04
