A mother successfully sued McDonald’s and a restaurant franchise owner after a hot chicken McNugget gave her daughter second-degree burns.
A jury in Florida found the fast food giant, as well as local franchise owner Upchurch Foods liable for damages after the chicken nugget incident in 2019. A separate jury will now determine how much the family will be paid in damages.
The suit was brought by Philana Holmes, a mother who bought Happy Meals for her two children at a drive-thru in Tamarac, Florida.
Holmes pulled out of the drive-thru, before hearing her then 4-year-old daughter, Olivia Caraballo, begin screaming in pain.
Holmes pulled into a nearby parking lot to help her daughter, where she realized what had happened. Caraballo had dropped a chicken nugget on her lap, where it had created a second-degree burn on her thigh.
Holmes was able to immediately take photos of the burn on her phone, as well as create audio recordings of her daughter screaming in pain. These were viewed and heard by the jury.
Caraballo, who is now 7-years-old, is autistic and did not testify at the trial.
Holmes took the stand to testify that workers at the McDonald’s did not warn her that the food might be especially hot that day.
Lawyers for the fast food chain did not dispute that the McNugget caused the burn, but argued with the plaintiff’s attorneys about the suspected temperature of the nugget.
Attorneys for Holmes argued the nuggets were over 200 degrees Fahrenheit, while lawyers for McDonald’s said they were no more than 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
McDonald’s lawyers also noted that the nuggets were required to be hot to prevent salmonella contamination.
‘This was an unfortunate incident, but we respectfully disagree with the verdict,’ McDonald’s USA stated.
‘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,’ franchise owner Brent Upchurch said in a statement.
He continued: ‘We are deeply disappointed with today’s verdict because the facts show that our restaurant in Tamarac, Florida did indeed follow those protocols when cooking and serving this Happy Meal.’
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