Starbucks Ordered to Pay $50 Million to Man Burned by Sizzling Tea

• A jury awarded Michael Garcia, a supply driver, $50 million after a Starbucks drink burned him.
• Garcia filed a grievance towards Starbucks in 2020 after a scorching tea fell on his lap.
• Garcia suffered critical burns, his attorneys argued.

A court docket ordered Starbucks to pay $50 million to a California supply driver who suffered critical burns after a scorching tea fell in his lap.

A Los Angeles County jury discovered Starbucks negligent on March 14, marking 4 years for the reason that litigation between Starbucks and Michael Garcia started. Garcia, who labored on the time as a Postmates driver, first filed the grievance towards Starbucks in March 2020.

A Starbucks spokesperson informed Enterprise Insider it deliberate to attraction the choice.

“We sympathize with Mr. Garcia, however we disagree with the jury’s choice that we have been at fault for this incident and consider the damages awarded to be extreme,” the assertion stated. “We plan to attraction. We now have all the time been dedicated to the best security requirements in our shops, together with the dealing with of scorching drinks.”

Trial Attorneys for Justice, the agency representing Garcia, stated he entered a Starbucks drive-thru that February and ordered three venti-sized scorching teas. The agency stated the barista on the pick-up window “negligently failed” to safe one of many drinks into the drink service.

“Inside 1.4 seconds of Michael taking possession of the tray, the unsecured cup fell straight into his lap, the lid popped off, and the scalding scorching tea brought about third-degree burns to his penis, groin, and interior thighs,” a press launch stated. “He was taken by paramedics to the emergency room.”

Nick Rowley, Garcia’s lawyer, stated the motive force’s life “has been eternally modified.”

“No sum of money can undo the everlasting catastrophic hurt he has suffered, however this jury verdict is a vital step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for buyer security and failure to just accept accountability,” he stated in a press release.