Starbucks ordered to pay $50 million to customer burned by hot drink

FILE – 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.  A jury has awarded $50 million to a man who alleged his private parts were disfigured by a Starbucks Corp. hot drink that spilled onto him when he was handed the beverage at a drive-thru window in Jefferson Park in 2020. The Los Angeles Superior Court panel reached its verdict March 14. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

LOS ANGELES – A jury has awarded $50 million to a man who alleged his private parts were disfigured by a Starbucks Corp. hot drink that spilled onto him when he was handed the beverage at a drive-thru window in Jefferson Park in 2020.

The Los Angeles Superior Court panel reached its verdict Friday morning in the lawsuit filed by Postmates driver Michael Garcia.

The accident occurred Feb. 8, 2020, because the lid on one of the three hot drinks he bought was not properly fastened and the cup was not fully placed into the drink carrier, according to the lawsuit brought by Garcia a month later.

Garcia suffered severe burns, disfigurement and debilitating nerve damage to his genitals, the suit stated.
The trial was split into two phases. The jury found Starbucks negligent on March 6 and then reached its decision on damages Friday. The trial included internal video footage of the exchange leading to Garcia’s injuries.

In their court papers, Starbucks attorneys denied liability and disputed the amount of damages claimed by Garcia. The coffee chain released a statement regarding the verdict.

“We sympathize with Mr. Garcia, but we disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive,” the statement read. “We plan to appeal. We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks.”