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Los Angeles man awarded $50 million in case against Starbucks after suffering permanent injury from spilled tea (www.cbsnews.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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A Los Angeles man was awarded $50 million from a jury Friday in his case against Starbucks after he suffered life-altering burns when a cup of scalding hot tea spilled into his lap in 2020.

It happened at an Exposition Park drive-thru window, where Postmates driver Michael Garcia was awaiting a delivery on Feb. 8, 2020. When the barista handed him a tray full of drinks, at least one overturned. His noticeable reaction can be seen in security camera footage from inside the location at 1789 West Jefferson Boulevard.

"Starbucks says if our hands are off the drink, then no matter what happens, we're not responsible," said Garcia's trial attorney Nicholas Rowley. "So, if I'm Starbucks and I hand you a drink that doesn't have a lid that's secured, and it's a scalding hot, 180-degree drink, or if I hand you a drink that's in a container and it's loose and it's not secured, and it falls right on you — the moment that I take my hands off of it, then you're responsible and I, the corporation, am not."

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

How hard is it to not serve something that won't produce 3rd degree burns. I mean come on, really?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago

In the McDonald’s case, there was internal documentation proving they knew it would potentially harm people. But they didn’t want people hanging out in the restaurant for extended periods, and wanted to cut down on refills. They knowingly put people at risk to save money.

I wonder if there’s similar motivations at play for Starbucks. I can’t think of any reason to be serving anything that hot, especially when you know it’s going to be handled and in a flimsy container.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

I'd be pretty pissed if they gave me anything much less than 100 deg C

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

The spacing between summary and article is wild. What happened?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

Weird, it doesn't look that way on my end.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

A video would show up there, but it is also missing for my setup of Librewolf.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

I, the corporation...

Starbucks coffee isnt even good.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

When will fast food companies stop scalding customers?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I looked for the key phrase "The jurors". I was not disappointed.