In August of 2023 I published a blog post on what really happened with the famous case of a lady who sued McDonald’s because she was burned from coffee that was so hot it started melting the Styrofoam cup. While not wanting to pick on McDonald’s it was interesting that at least 2 more lawsuits were filed against McDonald’s for serving food and coffee that was so hot it burned people when it fell in their laps.
In September of 2023 Reuters wrote about a case in which Ms. Childress is suing McDonald’s because she alleged the lid to the coffee cup was not secured and as she took a sip scalding coffee spilled into her lap and resulted in first degree burns. The article did a great job summarizing what happened to Liebeck and the settlement (which while the jury granted her $2.7 million, the judge reduced it to $480,000 and later settled for an undisclosed amount). It appears that on February 14, 2024 Ms. Childress will have her case heard in court. It will be interesting to see what happens.
In July of 2023 the New York Post wrote about a Florida jury awarding an 8 year old girl $800,000 after receiving second degree burns when she was 4 years old and a chicken nugget fell on her leg and was stuck next to her leg while she was in her car seat. While the parents originally asked for $15 million the lawsuit alleged that the restaurant served “unreasonably and dangerously hot” nuggets. McDonald’s lawyers argued that the nuggets would not have been more than 160 degrees, which is the temperature nuggets are cooked to avoid salmonella poising and are not meant to be push against human flesh for more than two minutes. The jury did find the McDonald’s franchise liable for failing to provide instructions on safe handling of its foods, but not for being negligent or responsible for the burn incident.
As 2024 starts here is to hoping that there will not be more of these cases, for any fast food company, for me to comment on.
Law Offices of Michaella Levandoski, PLLC 