McDonald’s Liable For Girl Burned By McNugget
McDonald’s Liable For Girl Burned By McNugget
Written By: Jonathan Capriel
Re-posted from Law360 (May 12, 2023, 9:05 PM EDT) — A Florida jury has found McDonald’s and a franchise partly liable for burns a 4-year-old suffered from a Chicken McNugget that was “unreasonably dangerous” because of its temperature, according to a Thursday verdict that determined only liability.
The jury said McDonald’s USA, LLC and Upchurch Foods Inc. failed to provide reasonable warning that the food it served could cause serious burns to Oliva Holmes, the daughter of Philana Holmes and Humberto Caraballo Estevez. The verdict also found that Upchurch Foods’ employees acted with negligence.
Jurors also said McDonald’s and the franchisees, which operate more than 40 McDonald’s restaurants, did not breach an implied warranty nor did the McNuggets they sold include a defect, the verdict form said.
Counsel for the family, Fischer Redavid PLLC, called the verdict the first step of “full justice.” A separate verdict on damages must still be rendered.
“We don’t view this as a ‘split verdict,'” the firm said in a statement. “Two defendants went to trial, denying liability. A jury found both liable. They just selected the theories of liability that the facts and law fit best in their minds.”
McDonald’s said that Olivia’s injury was “an unfortunate incident” but that it disagreed with the jury, according to a statement issued Friday.
“Our customers should continue to rely on McDonald’s to follow policies and procedures for serving Chicken McNuggets safely,” the company said. “We take every complaint seriously and certainly those that involve the safety of our food and the experiences of our customers.”
Franchise owner Brent Upchurch said he, too, was disappointed by the verdict, as the restaurants he manages “follow strict rules in accordance with food safety best practices” when it comes to serving all items on the menu, he said in a statement.
“Our sympathies go out to this family for what occurred in this unfortunate incident, as we hold customer safety as one of our highest priorities,” he said. “Our community here in South Florida should remain confident that we will continue serving safe and high-quality meals, just as we’ve done for more than 50 years at Upchurch Management restaurants.”
The parents of the now 7-year-old Olivia, filed suit in September 2019. Holmes drove through a McDonald’s restaurant with her two children, including Olivia, in the back seat. Holmes ordered a six-piece Chicken McNugget Happy Meal and a toy from “The Lion King” for her daughter, according to the suit.
When the Upchurch Foods employee handed Holmes the order, which included other items as well, she handed the child’s meal to her daughter.
“The Chicken McNuggets inside of that Happy Meal were unreasonably and dangerously hot, in terms of temperature, and caused [Olivia’s] skin and flesh around her thighs to burn,” according to the lawsuit.
Olivia suffered second-degree burns and “is now disfigured and scarred,” the firm said.
The firm told Law360 that any comparison to the “infamous Hot Coffee case” was unwarranted. In that case, Stella Liebeck, 79, filed suit in 1994 against McDonald’s after coffee it served her, which a jury determined was unreasonably hot, spilled onto her lap, causing third-degree burns. A jury awarded Liebeck $2.7 million, and her award was reduced to $640,000. She later settled with the restaurant for an undisclosed amount.
The firm also said that Olivia, who is also an autistic child and cannot share blame for what happened to her, which it said was a significant difference between the cases. Furthermore, coffee is understood to be for adults, while a Happy Meal’s intended consumer is a child.
“She’s an adorable, innocent child who was severely burned through no fault of her own. It’s clear that the burn was McDonald’s and its franchisee’s fault. Both of them,” the firm said. “Ultimately, food isn’t safe if it will disfigure a child — plain and simple.”
The family was represented by John Fischer and Jordan Redavid of Fischer Redavid PLLC.
McDonald’s and Upchurch was represented by George Duncan and Scott P. Yount of Garrison Yount Forte & Mulcahy LLC.
The case is Holmes v. Upchurch Foods, Inc. & McDonald’s USA, LLC, case number CACE-19-019340, in the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Florida for Broward County, Florida.
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