A South Los Angeles woman is suing Starbucks for negligence after she claims she was burned at a drive-thru window in Lynwood.
Muriel Evans filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Compton, claiming that a faulty coffee cup lid and excessive heat from her drink caused severe burns after a barista spilled coffee on her lap.
Evans is seeking general and special damages, including her medical, hospital and incidental expenses, as well as punitive damages for “setting an example” to Starbucks. She claims the company was indifferent to “the patently dangerous mix of excessively high temperatures combined with defective lids.”
“Starbucks has shown a reckless disregard for the safety of its customers, continuing to serve scalding hot coffee in defective cups despite countless reports and warnings,” Evans’ attorney Nick Rowley said in a statement.
A Starbucks representative responded briefly: “We pride ourselves on ensuring our beverages are prepared with care and delivered to customers safely. We take all complaints seriously, but we will not comment on pending litigation.”
Evans went to the Starbucks drive-thru on Aug. 25, 2022, and ordered a coffee, the lawsuit says.
A Starbucks employee then “mishandled” the coffee and spilled it on Evans’ lap, causing the hot liquid to drip down his left leg, the suit alleges.
A South Los Angeles woman says her leg was seriously injured after the lid of a 190-degree Starbucks coffee cup came off.
(Courtesy of Trial Lawyers for Justice)
Evans said she suffered severe and permanent burns to her body, as well as nerve damage and disfigurement.
Evans’ legal team estimates the temperature of the coffee was 190 degrees, just below the boiling point.
Previous Starbucks guides have listed most of the hot drinks at between 150 and 170 degrees.
Water heated to 120 degrees takes five to ten minutes to cause a third-degree burn; at 131 degrees, it’s 10 to 30 seconds; and at 140 degrees, it’s two to five seconds, depending on the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
As for the lids, there are have been various press articles and threads and videos complaining about Starbucks lids and how easily they fall off, including on Reddit And Tik Tok.
Starbucks faces similar lawsuits over lids.
A San Fernando Valley teen In June, a teenage girl filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming she was burned by hot tea. The teen’s drink was in a double cup, but the lid came off, according to the complaint.
“Muriel Evans suffered serious burns because Starbucks prioritized cost-cutting over basic customer safety,” Rowley said. “We intend to hold Starbucks fully accountable for its blatant disregard and gross negligence.”
