Starbucks faces new hot spill lawsuits weeks after US$50M ruling

This is the Starbucks sign on Black Friday shoppers line at a Starbucks kiosk in the Walden Galleria in Buffalo, NY., Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Los Angeles — Starbucks was facing two new lawsuits over spilled hot drinks Wednesday, just weeks after a court ordered the coffee giant to pay US$50 million to a man who was injured by a cup of tea.

Both suits were lodged in California, and seek damages over what they say are problems caused by scalding liquids slopped over customers at drive-throughs.

One case filed last week claims Sabrina Michelle Hermes was seriously hurt when hot liquid tipped into her lap at a branch in Norwalk, near Los Angeles, two years ago.

The suit says one of the cups in her order was not properly secured when it was handed to her, and the drink sloshed onto her legs, a hip, a knee and her feet, causing severe injuries.

Starbucks “owed a duty to exercise reasonable care with respect to the preparation, handling and service of hot beverages so as to prevent them from spilling onto and injuring customers such as plaintiff,” the suit says.

The negligence suit seeks unspecified general and special damages, including reimbursement for past and future medical costs and lost earnings.

A spokesperson for Starbucks told AFP on Wednesday the company would be contesting the claim.

“We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks,” the spokesperson said.

“We are aware of Ms. Hermes’ claims and firmly believe they are without merit. We look forward to presenting our case in court.”

In nearby Alhambra Superior Court, lawyers for Ernesto Vladimir Sanchez Avendano were also seeking unspecified damages for negligence.

Their suit, filed Wednesday, says Avendano was handed a drink at a North Hollywood drive-through, with a lid that was not properly fastened.

The drink spilled onto his lap, leaving him with “severe burns, disfigurement and debilitating nerve damage to his genitals and buttocks,” the suit says.

The Starbucks spokesman said the company had not yet been served with the suit “but will carefully review Mr. Avendano’s claims.”

Last month a jury in Los Angeles ordered the firm to pay US$50 million to delivery driver Michael Garcia, who suffered burns when a super-sized drink spilled in his lap at a drive-through.

Garcia’s lawyers claimed the server who handed him three large drinks in February 2020 did not push one of them into the cardboard cupholder properly.

Starbucks said at the time of the ruling that it would appeal the award, which it said was “excessive.”

A landmark legal ruling against McDonalds in New Mexico in 1994 established something of a precedent for Americans suing fast food companies when 79-year-old Stella Liebeck was awarded over $2.8 million after spilling hot coffee on herself.

Although the award was reduced on appeal, the case was often cited as an example of the need to reform US tort law.