On April 27th, a 74-year-old man from Toms River, New Jersey, sued Dunkin' Donuts after he suffered second-degree burns when a hot cup of coffee spilled on his lap.
The incident has drawn comparisons to the famous lawsuit filed against McDonald's in the 1990s.
According to Cosimo Nistico's account, as he received the coffee cup from the drive-thru employee, the lid popped off, causing the entire contents of the hot coffee to spill onto his left thigh.
"I was in total panic. When I tried to wipe it off, my skin was peeling off," he said.
Nistico was rushed to the hospital and was treated for 'severe injuries; that left him in pain and agony.
In a statement, Nistico believes Dunkin' Donuts needs to have large warnings on their coffee cups and improve the lid design.
"They should have bigger warnings because the coffee is so hot. The steam was still coming off the seat of my car, that's how hot it was," he said.
Liebeck was awarded $160,000 in damages, and McDonald's was initially ordered to pay $2.7 million in punitive damages, though the amount was later reduced to $480,000.
Liebeck's lawyers argued that McDonald's only had a small warning on their coffee cups, while the temperature of the coffee was between 180-190°F.
It's 2024 and people still don't know that coffee is very hot and can burn you if not handled properly, one user said.
I hope he wins. I have had so many "near misses" at DD and McDonalds with coffee being filled to the brim, the lid not placed on tightly and spilling as I a trying to place it in cup holder and the coffee being too hot with no way to vent the steam, the second user complained.
It does not take much "grey matter" to check the lid before handing off to the customer. Not much at all. The worse part is that these are the same people who complain that they are "worth $20 per hour". For What?? They cannot even do a simple task like placing lids on coffee securely. That should not take much "grey matter," the third user commented.
Sue happy country over nonsense. beggars will be beggars, another wrote.
Khanimov, who works as a cobbler, experienced the incident when the McDonald's coffee he was carrying spilled all over him.
The result was second and third-degree burns from his shoulders down to his abdomen, leaving him with permanent scarring.
After 7 years, the Brooklyn court finally accepted Khanimov's lawsuit, overturning the dismissal of the case in 2012.
The court ruled that McDonald's could not prove the coffee was being served at a "reasonably expected" temperature. There was no credible evidence showing the coffee temperature was within the franchise's control.
However, the court did not allow Khanimov to sue the McDonald's Corporation directly, only the franchise location. Khanimov's lawyer expressed disappointment that the entire McDonald's company could not be sued.
