Woman Sues Starbucks Over Alleged Coffee Burns, Faults Barista, Company

Really? Another "my coffee was too hot" lawsuit? Apparently, big chains selling coffee just keep getting burned.

That seems to be the case follow reports of a Houston woman who plans to sue Starbucks after she burned herself with her coffee. The lawsuit says that Katherine Mize was buying coffee for herself and coworkers at a local Starbucks.

When she pulled up to the drive-thru to receive her 20 oz. cup, she claims that the barista — who was in the first week of her employment — squeezed the cup as she handed it to her. The lid was then dislodged and scalding coffee spilled onto Mize.

In addition, Mize claims that she got out of her car "hollering," but no one helped Mize or filed an incident report.

Mize is suing both the barista and Starbucks for a plethora of failures, for which she seeks between $200,000 and $1 million to cover past and future damages.

There is some precedent for such lawsuits. In 1994, an Albuquerque woman sued McDonald's for third degree burns suffered because of scalding coffee. She was originally awarded $2.9 million, but privately settled when a judge lowered that number to $640,000.

It seems a little fishy that the coffee was spilled in Mize's car; when was the last time someone reached into your car to hand you something at a drive thru? Regardless, Starbucks might want to add a "Caution: Contents Hot" label to its cups to satisfy those that need the obvious stated. It wouldn't be the first meaningless label.