Starbucks has lost a lawsuit to a man who suffered severe burns after a drink spilled in his lap at one of the chain’s California drive-thru locations.
On Friday, March 14, a Los Angeles County jury ordered the Seattle-based coffee company to pay delivery driver Michael Garcia, who was burned in the drive-thru incident, a sum of $50 million, according to the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and CBS Los Angeles.
Garcia suffered life-changing injuries, including third-degree burns and permanent injury to his genitals, as a result of the Feb. 8, 2020 drive-thru incident at an L.A. Starbucks location, in which a scalding drink spilled into his lap moments after he collected it from a barista, the outlets reported.
The L.A.-based delivery driver was picking up three Venti-sized “medicine ball” drinks — an off-menu item featuring tea, lemonade and honey — when a Starbucks barista “negligently” put one of them in the to-go carrier with an unsecured lid, per court records obtained by the L.A. Times.
After the barista handed Garcia the tray, the lid popped off of the unsecured tea drink and the contents fell into his lap within seconds, as seen in surveillance footage of the incident provided by Trial Lawyers for Justice. Garcia suffered third-degree burns as a result.
According to Garcia’s attorney and Trial Lawyers for Justice co-founder, Nick Rowley, the delivery driver had to receive two skin grafts on his penis, which was permanently discolored and disfigured, and now results in only painful sex.
“One of the most pleasurable experiences in life has been changed to pain,” Rowley said in a statement, per Trial Lawyers for Justice. Because of the “awful, awful injury,” the lawyer added, Garcia is “a different person. This will affect every facet of his life.”
Rowley did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, March 16, nor did a spokesperson for Starbucks.
Rowley — along with Garcia — blamed the injuries on Starbucks, arguing that the barista did not properly secure the hot tea in the to-go tray. The surveillance video was key in corroborating this, showing one of the three beverages sitting askew as the employee passed it to Garcia in 2020.
The jury agreed with Garcia and Rowley, deliberating for just 40 minutes on Friday before ordering Starbucks to award him $50 million in damages, per CBS Los Angeles.
In a statement to the AP, Rowley said the verdict “is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility.”
And while Starbucks said it sympathizes with Garcia, the chain has plans to appeal Friday’s verdict, a spokesperson told the L.A. Times in a statement.
“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,” Starbucks Director of Corporate Communications Jaci Anderson told the outlet. “We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks.”
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Rowley originally asked the jury for $120 million, and Starbucks previously offered to settle the case before trial for $3 million, per Trial Lawyers for Justice. Garcia initially accepted the $3 million offer under three conditions — that the coffee chain apologize, alter store policy and issue a memo instructing workers to double-check hot drinks before handing them off — and the chain declined, sending the case to trial, the L.A. Times reported.
Following the Friday verdict, Rowley said in a statement that regardless of the court victory, Garcia’s life “has been forever changed,” per the L.A. Times.
“No amount of money,” the lawyer continued, “can undo the permanent catastrophic harm he has suffered, but this jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility.”
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