Man wins $79m in lawsuit over burns from | Australian Markets

A supply driver has received a profitable lawsuit after being severely burned when a Starbucks drink spilled in his lap at a California drive-through.

A Los Angeles County jury awarded Michael Garcia $US50 million ($A79 million) on Friday over the accident on February 8, 2020.

Garcia underwent pores and skin grafts and different procedures on his genitals after a venti-sized cup of tea spilled after he collected it. He has suffered everlasting and life-changing disfigurement, in response to his attorneys.

Garcia’s negligence lawsuit blamed his accidents on Starbucks, saying that an worker did not wedge the scalding-hot tea firmly enough into a takeaway tray.

“This jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility,” one of Garcia’s attorneys, Nick Rowley, stated in a assertion.

Starbucks stated it sympathised with Garcia however deliberate to appeal.

“We disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive,” the Seattle-based espresso giant stated in a assertion, including that it was “committed to the highest safety standards” within the handling of sizzling drinks.

In a single well-known Nineties case, a New Mexico jury awarded a girl practically $US3 million ($A4.7 million) in damages for burns she suffered whereas attempting to pry the lid off a cup of espresso at a McDonald’s drive-through.

A decide later diminished the award, and the case in the end was settled for an undisclosed sum beneath $US600,000 ($A947,867).

Juries have sided with eating places at occasions, as in one other Nineties case involving a youngster who tipped a cup of McDonald’s espresso onto himself in Iowa.