A jury in Broward County, Florida, has awarded a family $800,000 in total damages. The family had filed a lawsuit against the fast-food group McDonald’s because four years ago their little daughter had burned herself so badly on a Chicken McNugget that her leg was badly burned. When she opened a Happy Meal, one of the nuggets fell and got trapped between the car seat and the child’s leg. This reports “NBC6 South Florida”. A press release from the responsible lawyers confirms this.
According to the family, the temperature was over 90 degrees Celsius. McDonald’s stated that it must have been more like 70 degrees Celsius. The family’s lawyers describe the incident as follows: The child’s mother ordered a Happy Meal for her four-year-old daughter at the drive-through counter of a branch. It also contained a box of six Chicken McNuggets.
The mother passed the Happy Meal to the back seat and gave it to her daughter. When the box was unpacked, one of the nuggets fell and, since it had been in contact with the child’s skin for a long time, caused second-degree burns.
In the lawsuit against McDonald’s and franchisee Upchurch Foods, the family initially sought $15 million in damages. The reason: McDonald’s failed to point out the dangers of hot food and did not train the employees sufficiently to prepare the food at an appropriate temperature.
The company’s lawyers argued that it couldn’t possibly have been more than 70 degrees at the time of unpacking and of course you shouldn’t press the hot food against human skin for two minutes.
But ultimately, back in May, the jury found the company guilty of failing to adequately warn customers about the risks associated with hot food and to provide inadequate instructions on how to safely handle its food. However, no negligence was found.
The child’s mother, Philana Holmes, told NBC6 South Florida: “I’m actually just glad that they heard Olivia’s voice and that they, the jury, were able to reach a fair verdict. I’m happy with that.”
McDonald’s last commented on the case in May, writing, “This was an unfortunate incident, but we do not agree with the verdict.”
Even the law firm draws a comparison to the world-famous coffee judgment from the 1990s, in which a woman was initially awarded several million US dollars after an accident involving hot coffee. At the time, McDonald’s appealed and reached an out-of-court settlement with the injured party for an amount that is still unknown today.
Also read: “Hot argument about ice cream: McDonald’s is sued for broken McFlurry machines for 800 million euros”
