McDonald’s loses lawsuit over chicken nugget that was too hot
There’s a good chance you’ve heard of the lawsuit McDonald’s lost after a woman spilled their coffee all over herself. I still often see this example brought up when people say that ‘in America, you can sue anyone and everyone for any reason.’
But what I unfortunately almost never read about that lawsuit is that the woman did in fact have a very strong case. The coffee served at McDonald’s at the time was between 80 and 90 degrees, while the standard is between 60 and 70. Quite a difference, then, and the woman suffered truly horrific burns (and had to undergo reconstructive surgery). But of course, the headline that a woman won a lawsuit over hot coffee is much more likely to get clicks.
Burns from the chicken nuggets
And now it has happened again with the temperatures at McDonald’s — this time involving chicken nuggets. In 2019, Philania Holmes was driving through a McDonald’s drive-thru in Florida with her daughter and ordered, among other things, chicken nuggets. While they were driving, one of the nuggets fell between the car seat and her daughter’s leg, causing burns that left her with scars.
Just as with the coffee lawsuit, lawyers are convinced that the chicken nuggets in question were unreasonably and dangerously hot — although no temperatures have been mentioned here (yet). The lawyers did manage to convince the jury, who decided that the woman was indeed in the right. McDonald’s has not accepted the verdict in Holmes’s favor and is appealing. To be continued…
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