Starbucks sued over hot coffee spilled in Texas woman's lap

CTV News Channel: Starbucks coffee in hot water Attorney Brian S. Humphrey II says his client has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks after hot coffee was spilled on her lap via drive-thru.

A Texas woman is suing Starbucks and one of its baristas, alleging she was badly injured by a cup of hot coffee that spilled into her lap.

According to the lawsuit, Katherine Mize of Houston was buying coffee at a drive-thru Starbucks in July, 2014. The barista, identified in the lawsuit as “Brie," handed Mize a 20-ounce cup of coffee.

Mize alleges that Brie held the cup from the lid and put her arm directly into her car to pass it to her but then dropped it, spilling the coffee into Mize’s lap.

Mize jumped out of the car, yelling in pain, but her lawsuit alleges that nobody helped beyond getting her a new coffee.

Mize suffered second-degree burns and says she needed to take a month off work to recover.

Mize’s lawyer, Brian S. Humphreys of the law firm Abraham Watkins, says their lawsuit alleges the Starbucks employee was negligent in not handling the hot coffee properly.

“That’s the primary reason the lawsuit is being brought is because a Starbucks employee spilled the coffee on her. She didn’t handle it carefully, and dropped the coffee in her lap,” Humphreys told CTV News Channel from Houston Thursday.

Humphreys says his client tried several times over the last two years to get Starbucks to acknowledge her injury and compensate her for medical expenses and lost wages.

“She attempted for a long time to make this right. She contacted Starbucks very soon after the incident through their online complaints system; never got a call back. Her friend contacted them; she was ignored as well.”

Humphreys says it wasn’t until he began sending letters to Starbucks’ head office that they heard anything back from the coffee retailer.

Some might compare this suit to a famous case in which a jury awarded a New Mexico woman US$2.7 million after McDonald’s coffee spilled in her lap. But Humphreys says, in that case, the jury found that McDonald’s knew their coffee was too hot, so awarded punitive damages against the fast food giant.

“We haven’t seen any indication that this was anything intentional; however, it was negligent,” he said.

Humphreys adds that his client realizes everyone makes mistakes, but says this instance is different.

“When a mistake happens due to someone else’s carelessness and you suffer a serious injury as a result, both the American and the Canadian law give you the right to seek redress in the courts for that,” he said.

Starbucks has responded to the lawsuit by issuing a statement that reads: "The health and safety of our customers and partners (employees) is always our top priority. We are evaluating the customer's claims and determining the appropriate next steps."