REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - McDonald's, the defendant in the famous hot coffee lawsuit, now faces litigation over the temperature of tea.
Catherine Villamejor sued McDonald's Feb. 25 in California's San Mateo County Superior Court, also naming McEng Enterprises as a defendant. Her lawyer is Reuben Donig.
The lawsuit alleges Villamejor and her mother went through a drive-thru in South San Francisco on Oct. 25, 2020, for two cups of tea and three orders of French fries.
But staff failed to place the tea cups into a cardboard tray, the suit says, despite corporate policies requiring them when beverages are sold "in such quantities." The lids weren't on all the way either, the suit says.
"Plaintiff was caused to be injured when she was handed one of the cups of hot tea by her mother, and as she attempted to grasp the cup, the lid popped off because it was not properly secured, and the tea spilled onto Plaintiff's... left upper leg and thigh," the suit says.
Villamejor says she suffered second- and third-degree burns that have left permanent burn marks and scars. The suit says the tea was served at "an unreasonably dangerous high temperature."
Villamejor is seeking punitive damages too, arguing McDonald's had been previously warned of similar incidents.