A California ju umpire on Friday awarded $50 million in damages to a Los Angeles delivery driver who was severely burned from hot tea spilled into his knee at a Starbucks drive-thru in 2020.
Driver Michael Garcia received other genital treatment after 30-year-old Michael Garcia received multiple skin grafts and in 2020 hot tea spilled through a drive-through window after hot tea spilled through a drive-thru window.
“This ju-search verdict is an important step in holding Starbucks accountable for not underestimating their clients' safety and responsibility,” one of Garcia's lawyers said in a statement.
In February 2020, Garcia, then 25 years old, had been working for a postmate of the delivery service to arrive at Starbucks in Los Angeles and pick up three bench-sized hot tea, according to her lawyer.
The lawsuit alleges that a barista stationed in a window “failed to neglect” had secured one of the hot drinks into the drink carrier and left the container and fell into Garcia's knee. Videos from inside the store filmed the episode, showing Garcia pulling away and feeling the pain.
The company “didn't secure the lids of each hot drink that was neglected, careless and recklessly served,” the complaint said.
His lawyer said the experience left him with three degree burns on his penis, gro diameter and inner thigh, and he was taken to the emergency room.
Since being hospitalized and treated, he has “lived for five years with the psychological harm caused by burns, pain, dysfunction and burns,” his lawyer said.
In a statement Sunday, Starbucks said that despite sympathy for Garcia, the company plans to appeal the ju judges award.
“We oppose the ju-search decision that we are responsible for this case and believe that the damages awarded are excessive,” said Jaci Anderson, director of Corporate Communications, in a statement.
She said, “We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including our hot drinks.”
According to the ju umpire award, damage covers physical pain, mental distress, loss of humiliation, loss of humiliation, humiliation, sadness, physical disability and anxiety.
His lawyers say the award is expected to total over $60 million after adding interest, lawyer fees and costs.
The lawsuit is reminiscent of another well-known fast food-related burn case. In 1992, 79-year-old Stella Leebeck was severely burned after spilling coffee in her lap at a drive-thru at McDonald's in Albuquerque.
She sued the company, attracted negative national attention, and was awarded $2.9 million by the ju apprentice, which later reduced to about $500,000.
Kitty Bennett contributed to the research.
