If only they would have changed their sign, this could have been avoided.
A Florida woman is $100,000 richer this week after a jury ordered Starbucks to pay up when she spilled some hot coffee on herself. You see, the to-go lid popped off the cup and the 190-degree coffee spilled onto her lap and burned her. So yeah, she gets paid for that. She was at drive-thru and she burned her lap, claiming the lid on her Venti “was either not attached properly or was defective.” Now I’m not a detective or anything, but here’s what I’m thinking:
If the burns were on her lap and not on her hands, could it be possible, seeing that she was at a drive-thru, that she nestled the scalding, dark-roasted deliciousness in between her legs as she drove away? And then, maybe getting somewhat excited at the thought of something large and warm between her creamy thighs, her adductor muscles tensed up causing the lid to fly off like like the cork from a bottle of champagne that hasn’t been touched in twenty years. As, the liquid gushed out in a torrent of rage, spilling all over her legs and torso, she moaned out, “Oh my God, my God! Stop it, please stop!”
Why the hell is that the fault of Starbucks? Who doesn’t know that to-go lids come off all the fucking time? That’s why you never hold to-go cups from the top, you don’t put them between your legs and you try not to squeeze the cup too hard. It’s a paper cup, not a metal thermos. Yes, the coffee was hot, but it wasn’t too hot. The ideal temperature for coffee is between 195-205°, so this coffee was right where it should be. Besides, if it was not hot enough, say only 165°, isn’t this the same woman who would turn her car around and complain to Starbucks that the coffee is “freezing?”
The woman suffered first and second-degree burns. While I don’t doubt that it hurt and I’m sorry that it happened to her, can’t she take some responsibility for herself? Starbucks is supposed to pay her $85,000 for pain and suffering, physical impairment, disfigurement, inconvenience and loss of capacity for enjoyment of life. I’m sorry, “loss of capacity for enjoyment of life?” That’s a thing we can sue for, because if it is, every restaurant I have ever worked in owes me some fucking money. She is also supposed to receive $15,000 for medical bills.
Starbucks may appeal the decision and they are standing behind the employees involved in the situation. I hope they do appeal and I hope they win. In the meantime, maybe Starbucks should put this sign up at every restaurant so they can protect themselves from this happening again:
If they don’t appeal and this woman gets her money, you can catch me at my local Starbucks where I will be trying to decide which part of my skin I am willing to do without in exchange for $100,000.
G.B. Miller
I was going to say “McDonald’s deja vu” but after reading the above comments, I have to agree with the commenters on this one, especially over the fact that it’s cheaper for a business to pay a lawsuit than it is to change a defective product (usually).
Dweali
This seems like it could be the same scenario as the McDonald’s incident where the company refused to offer a fair amount (or total) of hospital bills. Sorry but I’m going to withhold judgment on whether it’s frivolous or not until more details are given. Let’s not repeat the mistake above and make fun of this lady the way people did with coffee burned grandma.
miss kitty
Yeah, but this time the coffee was in the correct serving range, and no third degree burns. You can treat second degree burns at home. I think Bitchy’s assessment is probably the right one, or none of us will ever get a hot cup of coffee again.
Dweali
Going from restaraunt to hospital employment it really depends on how much of the body was burnt otherwise I would agree with you. Small toilet paper circumference sized burn take care of at home. Anything larger get it looked at–no that’s not a medical opinion that’s more my personal opinion based on what I’ve seen and heard from other nurses.
Sailormouth
Burns that can be treated at home don’t rack up $15,000 in medical bills.
Trillian
Here’s the article: http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2017/05/19/woman-wins-100000-from-starbucks-in-hot-coffee-lawsuit.html
Bullet points
– She was handing it off to somebody else when it collapsed and spilled.
– Starbucks receives constant and repeated complaints every month about their lids, and neglected to warn her about the lids’ propensities to fall off.
– She was indeed found to be 15% responsible for what happened.
I normally love this blog, especially the bitchiness, but this in particular has gone a little too far in being unfair and unkind.
Kristi
I have to agree, normally I love Bitchy Waiter, but this is a little off base. Find the documentary ‘Hot Coffee’ on Netflix, it really opened my eyes to the case mentioned above about McDonalds and lawsuits over hot coffee.
Stacy
Yeah, I worked for Starbucks. Some sleeves of lids came in so defective we had to throw them away. You also don’t know they are defective until you use them. Or you would have that one wonky lid that wasn’t fitting quite right but you gotta make those times! Starbucks tried to cheap out and now they have to pay. They will still continue to use sub par paper products because this $100,000 lawsuit still cost them less than using appropriate paper products.
Bryony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9DXSCpcz9E
^^^^ the real story behind the macdonalds thing