Starbucks sued over hot tea alleged to cause burns

Written By: Tom Doerr on May 13, 2010 No Comment

An American woman has filed a lawsuit against coffee giants Starbucks over claims she suffered second degree burns after being served tea that was too hot. The woman was served the tea which was “unreasonably hot, in containers which were not safe” in a Manhattan branch of the chain.

New Yorker Zeynap Inanli intends to sue the corporation for unspecified damages after it is claimed she experienced “great physical and mental anguish” which included the burns. Her lawyer stated that she was unable to read the warning signs as she cannot read English.

The US coffee giant is no stranger to this kind of allegation and refused to comment although a legal expert has noted that the cups in question have two warning signs on the sides and a third on the lid along with design measures to guarantee any hot liquid cannot spill out accidentally.

The case echo’s a case in 1994 when a jury ordered McDonald’s to pay nearly $3m to an Albuquerque woman who claimed she had scalded herself with the restaurant’s coffee. The parties settled out of court but it paved a way for those looking to seek compensation against large corporations for hot drinks accidents.

The case is the third major legal fiasco facing Starbucks in the last year and could do further harm to their reputation. Singer-songwriter Carly Simon, who signed to Starbucks own record label, failed to sell many records and she attempted to sue Starbucks for ‘loss of earnings’ claiming her album was not even promoted, the case was thrown out of court.

At the beginning of this year, Starbucks was at the centre of a vicious battle to ban gun carriers in Denver to openly carry firearms inside businesses. Colorado law states that civilians can openly carry firearms with a licence but many city centre business forbid the carrying of weapons indoors. Starbucks decided to allow their customers to observe the 2nd amendment but risked losing the faith of at least on side of the argument, they claimed they were trying to cater for customers while observing local law but it has dragged them into the centre of a dispute between gun control activists and gun advocates.

Starbucks have consulted health and safety experts in order to prevent liability over their printed paper cups and paper cup lids and their warnings are written in several languages and shown in a visual form, legal experts suspect the case will be thrown out of court.