Starbucks ordered to pay $50 million for hot tea spill

LOS ANGELES

Starbucks has been ordered to pay $50 million to a customer who was burned when hot tea spilled on his lap at a California drive-through.

Lawyers for Michael Garcia said the server who handed him three super-sized drinks in February 2020 did not push one of them into the cardboard cupholder properly.

When he took the tray, the drink tipped over, "causing third degree burns to his penis, groin, and inner thighs," according to a statement from Trial Lawyers for Justice.

"After a hospitalization and multiple skin grafts, Michael has lived for five years with the disfigurement, pain, dysfunction, and psychological harm caused by the burns."

The firm, which specializes in no-win-no-fee claims, said Starbucks had denied responsibility for Garcia's suffering, but before a jury trial had offered to settle for $30 million.

However, the coffee giant balked at the demand for a public apology and a change in policy that Garcia wanted, so the case went to trial.

A jury in Los Angeles awarded him $50 million, a figure his attorneys said would eventually cost Starbucks more than $60 million once pre-judgment interest, costs and attorneys' fees are added.

A spokesperson for Starbucks said the company would appeal the award.

The case is redolent of a 1994 landmark legal action against McDonald's in New Mexico, 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 Liebeck case became a touchstone issue in U.S. tort reform, and was often mocked as an example of how readily Americans resort to the law.