McDonald's Once Again Sued Over Hot Coffee Spill (Image: Instagram.com/mcdonalds_india)
McDonald”s, the top American fast food chain, is once again sued over a hot coffee spill and this time at a San Francisco location.
The outlet is reportedly served an extremely hot and blistering coffee with a mistakenly placed top causing burn to its customer, to which the food giant is accused now. McDonald’s was sued over a similar incident in the 1990s when a woman was scalded by hot McDonald’s coffee that pulled into her lap.
An elderly women named Mable Childress (85 years old) filed a lawsuit last week, claiming that, she was burned by a cup of coffee which she bought from a San Francisco McDonald’s vent. According to her, she fetched the coffee at the drive-through and the lid opened when she tried to drink it.
As per the lawsuit, Ms Childress visited the McDonald’s at 1100 Fillmore St. on June 13, 2023 and the coffee she bought from there left her with severe burns after the top was not properly sealed over the drink.
“It burned”, she told to a local media. “It was so hot from my chest on down”, she added. Ms Childress also accused the restaurant employees that they refused to help her when she asked.
The lawsuit claims that Ms Childress suffered “severe burns and emotional distress” and has scarring on her groin area and is still feeling pain. However, she “is recovering nicely and the burns are mostly healed”, the lawsuit added.
Ms Childress, after the incident, sought medical support. It was her doctor who advised to return to McDonald’s and report the incident to a manager. She says she went back to the outlet, asked to speak to a manager, and the workers went into the manager’s office and never returned.
“I didn’t know what to do. I just kept standing there for a while. The cashier started laughing. He just shook his head. I just turned around and walked away,” she said to the media.
The civil lawsuit was filed for general negligence against McDonald’s Restaurants of California and Ms Childress asked for an amount of money more than $25,000 (Rs 2,073,193.75).
“We take every customer complaint seriously and when Childress reported her experience to us later that day, our employees and management team spoke to her within a few minutes and offered assistance”, the McDonald’s franchisee owner, Peter Ou, said in a statement to CNN.
“My restaurants have strict food safety protocols in place, including training crew to ensure lids on hot beverages are secure,” Mr Ou said, adding that the company is “reviewing this new legal claim in detail”.
McDonald”s Corporation is a famous American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States.
Earlier this year also, McDonald’s was found liable in another case involving hot food. A Florida jury awarded a family $800,000 in a civil lawsuit against McDonald’s and one of its franchisees after a toddler was burned by hot chicken nuggets.
