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Hot drinks burn the delivery staff! Starbucks awarded compensation of 360 million yuan!

Published: 2026-08-25 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/08/25, ▲ Click to pay attention| Daily Boutique Coffee Culture Magazine Coffee Factory Recently, CNN reported that a jury in California ruled that coffee chain Starbucks would pay tens of millions of dollars in damages to a delivery attendant who suffered severe burns because "the lid of a hot drink cup was not properly fixed." Through the surveillance video in the store, we can see that a certain takeaway

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A jury in California has ordered Starbucks, a coffee chain, to pay tens of millions of dollars in damages to a takeout worker who suffered severe burns because the lid of a hot drink cup was not properly fixed, CNN reported.

Surveillance video in the store shows a takeout clerk picking up food at a Starbucks Drive-Thur window in Los Angeles, when the clerk places the three drinks ordered by the customer on the cup holder, opens the window and delivers them to the person sitting in the car waiting.

But in the process of handover, a cup of hot drink on the tray was accidentally overturned, and the hot coffee was immediately drenched on the person's lower body and thigh. After diagnosis, the victim suffered third-degree burns, disfigurement and permanent damage to the lower body nervous system. This unfortunate experience not only caused irreparable harm to the body of the parties, but also caused serious trauma to their psychology. As a result, the victim filed a complaint with the California High Court in 2020 to take Starbucks to court.

The lawyer entrusted by the plaintiff said that after Starbucks employees made the drink, one of the hot drinks was not properly fixed on the tray, which caused the drink on the tray to fall off when it was submitted, and the boiling hot liquid poured out scalded the client sitting in the car, causing him long-term physical and mental pain. In view of this, lawyers accused Starbucks of failing to properly ensure the safety of beverage containers and violating its "duty of reasonable care" that led to the tragedy, arguing that Starbucks should be responsible for compensating the victims.

According to court records, the victim was taken to the emergency room after the injury, then went to the burn center for treatment and received two skin transplants. His lower body suffered permanent damage, the damaged function can not be fully recovered, as long as friction will cause pain. As a result, the person concerned suffered physical pain, mental pain, loss of fun in life, humiliation, inconvenience, sadness, disfigurement, impaired physical function, anxiety and emotional distress.

After years of litigation, a California jury ruled on Friday that Starbucks had to pay $50 million (360 million yuan) in damages to the takeout man. If interest and legal fees are taken into account, that figure could rise to $60 million.

Starbucks said it would appeal the verdict. "We deeply sympathize with the sufferings of the parties, but we do not agree with the jury's decision that the company is responsible and that the amount of compensation is too high," a company spokesman said in a statement. we are always committed to maintaining the highest safety standards, including the way hot drinks are handled.

However, the entrusted lawyer for the victim believed that the surveillance footage clearly showed that Starbucks employees made a mistake in packaging drinks and did not place the packing cup properly, while the client did nothing wrong in the process of picking up the meal, insisting that Starbucks should bear the corresponding responsibility. and claimed that it should pay $120 million to the victim.

In addition, lawyers said Starbucks offered to settle the case with $3 million before the trial. However, after being held responsible, the company raised its offer to $30 million, but wanted to keep the exact amount secret, which was rejected by the parties.

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