- A customer sued a restaurant after he was injured when hot tea spilled on him while trying to get his order
- The lawyers of the customer shared how their client was hospitalised due to the injury he got from the tea spill
- The court has now ordered the restaurant to pay $50m (approximately N77bn) to the affected customer
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A court has ordered a popular coffee house, Starbucks, to pay $50m (approximately N77bn) to a customer who suffered burns after a tea spill incident.
The customer, who worked as a delivery driver, was seriously burned after hot tea spilled on his lap when he was collecting his order at a Starbucks branch in California.
Court asks restaurant to pay N77bn to man whos ued them after hot tea spill. Photo: Yuliia Kaveshnolpva, Stephania Pelfini, La Waziya photographySource: Getty Images
According to the court records, the incident took place on February 8, 2020, after the customer, Michael Garcia, collected his order.
Customer undergoes surgery after hot tea spill
Michael’s lawyers said that he underwent surgery and had some parts of his body disfiigured after the incident.
In an Instagram post by his lawyers, they gave insight on how the incident affected their client.
The post read:
“In February 2020, Michael Garcia was working for Postmates when he entered a Starbucks drive-thru to pick up three venti-sized “medicine ball” hot teas. The barista working the window negligently failed to properly “secure” one of the scalding hot drinks into the drink carrier, causing it to immediately fall into Michael’s lap a second after it was handed over to him, causing third degree burns.
“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.”
Man sues restaurant after hot tea spill. Photo: Drazen Zigic
Photo for illustration only.Source: Getty Images
How Starbucks reacted to customer’s claims
According to the lawyers, Starbucks refused to take responsibility for five years and later asked to settle with $30m.
The statement further read:
“Starbucks Corporation consistently denied responsibility for five years, all the way up to and through trial, and attempted to escape responsibility.The trial was a perfect example of frivolous defenses and victim-blaming.
“9/12 Jurors agreed to the $50 Million, which will be over $60+ Million with Pre Judgment Interest, Costs, and Attorneys fees. 3 Jurors dissented and were crying, because they wanted the verdict to be $125 Million.
“Starbucks offered $30 Million to settle but wanted confidentiality. We said we would settle for $30 Million without confidentiality and only if Starbucks agreed to publicly apologize and promise to change policy to prevent this from happening again. We are proud of Michael for standing up for himself and having the courage to tell his story.”
In related stories, a woman who sued a bank over a failed transaction got N500,000 compensation, while another man almost sued a bank because of his savings.
Restaurant ordered to pay N3.8bn to customer
Meanwhile, TheTalk.NG previously reported that a man, William Cronnon, checked into a restaurant and was served cleaning liquid instead of water.
The mishap caused harm as he became sick and was forced to seek medical attention.
He later sued the restaurant for damages and won the case in a move that saw him bag N3.9 billion.
Source: TheTalk.NG
