this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2025
132 points (100.0% liked)

News

27684 readers
3322 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

A California jury Friday imposed a $50 million fine on Starbucks in the case of a delivery driver burned by a scalding cup of hot tea at a company location in Los Angeles.

Michael Garcia was picking up three drinks in 2020 but one, he claimed, was "negligently" unsecured and spilled in his lap. He claimed that he consequently "suffered severe burns, disfigurement, and debilitating nerve damage to his genitals" and he was taken to an emergency room by paramedics.

all 38 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 65 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

i guess it has been 30 years since that lady, time to remind these companies to adjust their water temp sensors

[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 week ago (1 children)

With deregulation coming down hard right now, everyone should expect to hear more about capitalistic corner-cutting injuries. Or not, I’m sure the media will be neutered.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 week ago

It's the McDonald's thing all over again. Coffee should never be hot enough to require skin grafts if it spills. Doesn't matter how clumsy the customer is.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (3 children)

All drinks to be served cold from now on.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Found the person who bought the PR and thinks the McDonald's coffee lawsuit was frivolous.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

No I was just making a simple joke at someone else's expense

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Delivery drivers are not served!

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 week ago (2 children)

And served drinks should not be third degree burn hot anyway.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They really should have learned from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants

Third degree burns are NO JOKE, particularly in such a sensitive area. If you google around a little you can see the burns on the leg of Simone Evans, another plaintiff vs. Starbucks in a similar, ongoing case (NSFW!)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yep, seems like maybe another make an example case?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

A bigger example, because clearly they didn't learn from the first one. With personal consequences for the managers who set the temperature too high.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

A quick search says that coffee is typically made at around 200°F (93°C), and water can cause 3rd degree burns within a couple of seconds of contact at 150°C (60°C), so it's not unthinkable that a freshly made coffee would be dangerous.

A proper cup with a secure lid would make the difference.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Optional warm up window is available outside for additional fee

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

One drink per 2 hands!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Frappes are very nice.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

Absolutely insane!! WTF is wrong with you USA?
This wasn't due to just the servers mistake. He spilled it on himself, holding 3 drinks while sitting down. Clearly he has part of the blame himself.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Garcia was later treated at the renowned Grossman Burn Center, where he received not one but two skin grafts on his penis. Garcia's attorney, Trial Lawyers for Justice co-founder Nick Rowley, said Garcia's penis was permanently discolored and disfigured, with less length and less girth.

Rowley said the key evidence during the trial was the surveillance footage of the incident taken from inside the coffee shop. Rowley said the footage clearly showed the barista secure two of the cups in the caddie but not the third, causing it to spill less than two seconds after Garcia took it into the car.

https://www.courthousenews.com/starbucks-hit-with-50-million-jury-verdict-for-hot-tea-that-scalded-and-disfigured-postmates-drivers-penis/

He didn’t hold 3 drinks, he was handed a drink carrier and one of the drinks was negligently secured. The jury took 40 minutes to determine that Starbucks was at fault, and Starbucks themselves offered $3m and $30m settlements at different points. How much do you think two skin grafts to your genitalia are worth?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

... I'd take the 3 mill for a couple of skin grafts. 30 is just fantastic.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

His penis is permanently disfigured.

Not just like most American penises...more. Like Deadpool's Penis.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

The article doesn't give much, and a lawyer claiming something is considerably damaged when defending a client is always hyperbolic. Did you look up more info?

Either way, 30 mill could set you and your descendants (should you be able to make any) for life. Life's pretty damn short, so never having to work again at the cost of not being able to crank it anymore? I'd seriously consider it.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We're so glad to have your nuanced take here. Thanks for stopping by!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Your comment adds nothing, and is just a waste of space.
If you find this kind of fines to be OK for an accident, then how about if it wasn't Starbucks, but a privately owned cafe?
Having the risk of that kind of fine as a minor business is insane. If this happens only against major businesses it's exploitation of that.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago

Thank you your honor. We appreciate your hard work!!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Finally, someone standing up for the big business to defend them from exploitation and fight for their right to disfigure our penises!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yes because being a big business automatically makes it their fault. 😜

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I'd say that negligence made it their fault, but u do u 😘

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Just watched the video, and the drinks seems to me to be firmly seated in the tray by the server. The driver spills the drinks on himself after the server very carefully gave them to him.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

look at the footage. Chrits, 100% Starbucks fuckup

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sorry what footage? I don't see any, and I read 2 articles about it?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's in this comment thread

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Thanks, OK watched it, and the server very clearly put the drinks thoroughly in the tray.
And the driver 100% drops the drinks himself. Also he is parked too far away from the window, so the server has to stretch quite a bit to give it to him.
Seems to me it's at least as much the drivers drivers fault. But wua wua he was the victim. 😜😜😜

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Maybe starbucks can learn from that and invest an extra cent per cup to make safer cups? Or decrease water temperature? And I hope wronged customers everywhere will learn from that not to make shadybsettlements like the McDonalds case!