By Fiona McLaughlin
A Los Angeles man was awarded $50 million Friday in a judgment against Starbucks after a 2020 incident involving a cup of extremely hot tea spilling onto his lap.
Michael Garcia suffered life-altering burns after a Starbucks barista handed him a tray of drinks, with at least one overturned, according to CBS News. After the spill, Garcia suffered third degree burns, permanent injury to his genitals and nerve damage. His lawyers stated the man went through several surgeries and still deals with pain each day while also suffering from severe PTSD.
The incident was caught on the franchise’s security camera. Video shows a barista handing Garcia the tray of drinks through the drive-thru window. The tray appears to fall in his lap as he squirms in his seat before quickly driving off.
“Starbucks says if our hands are off the drink, then no matter what happens, we’re not responsible,” Nicholas Rowley, Garcia’s trial attorney, told CBS News. “So, if I’m Starbucks and I hand you a drink that doesn’t have a lid that’s secured, and it’s a scalding hot 180 degree drink, or if I hand you a drink that’s in a container and it’s loose and it’s not secured, and it falls right on you — the moment that I take my hands off of it, then you’re responsible and I, the corporation, am not.”
Jurors reportedly deliberated for roughly 40 minutes before siding with Garcia, awarding him $50 million in damages. (RELATED: Jury Awards Rappers T.I., Tiny $71 Million In Intellectual Rights Lawsuit Against Toy Company MGA Entertainment).
“It’s a reasonable verdict. It’s justified. This injury changed Michael’s life, it was gross negligence,” Rowley told CBS.
Starbucks had originally offered $3 million to Garcia before the trial, the outlet reported, citing attorneys. They later upped the offering to $30 million to settle the case.
Garcia agreed to the settlement under the condition that the major coffee chain apologize, change company policies and issue a memo to all of their locations to double-check that the lids on hot drinks are secure before handing them off to customers. Starbucks then declined those terms.
“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,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News. “We plan to appeal. We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks.”
