Woman 'left with horror burns' after spilling McDonald's tea needing treatment

28 March 2024 , 16:12

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She says she was left with agonising first and second degree burns to her thigh from the spilled drink (file photo) (Image: GoogleMaps/Newsflash)

A woman has sued McDonald’s for over £30,000 after she was left with first-degree burns on her leg from spilled tea which she claims fell from her cup after a McDonald’s employee failed to secure the lid.

The woman, from Wildeshausen, Lower Saxony, Germany, has sued the operator of the fast food branch according to local media reports on March 27th, where she was not named. She says in her claim that she was left with agonising first and second-degree burns to her thigh when it spilled over her legs, eight minutes after buying the hot drink.

Court officials told local media: "The plaintiff claims that the tea was brewed too hot by the defendant so that it posed unnecessary health risks to the customers. It also says that the lid was not sufficiently tight and the temperature was too high and inadequate. In the absence of any other information, she was able to assume that she could safely lift the tea by the lid and that she did not need to expect the temperature to be excessive."

The woman has sued the company, demanding at least 5,000 euros (£4,282) in damages alongside another 33,000 euros (£28,262) for laser scar treatment. However, Oldenburg Regional Court rejected her claim saying that her cup was marked on both sides with the words 'Caution hot' and an image of the cup amid clouds of steam.

Judges at the 16th Civil Chamber said: "The injuries suffered by the plaintiff are a highly regrettable accident, for which the defendant cannot be held responsible due to a lack of detectable breach of duty.” They added: “It can easily be assumed that every customer - at least the average customer - who orders tea and thus a hot drink is aware that it is brewed with hot water."

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The case mirrors that of a 1992 hearing where US judges awarded Stella Liebeck $640,000 (£507,430) after she burned herself with hot McDonald's coffee. Liebeck had initially sought $20,000 (£15,857) from the fast food giant to cover her medical expenses, but McDonald's offered just $800 (£634). During the trial, Liebeck's lawyers argued that McDonald's served its coffee at dangerously high temperatures, significantly hotter than coffee served by other restaurants.

Marija Stojkoska