Starbucks has been ordered to pay a Florida woman $100,000 after she suffered first- and second-degree burns from their coffee, her lawyers announced.
Joanne Mogavero, 43, endured permanent scarring after the lid on a venti-sized Pike Place coffee popped off at a Jacksonville drive-thru window in 2014. The slip led to the scalding, 190-degree beverage to pour on her lap, her attorneys said in a statement.
The lid “was either not attached properly or was defective,” her lawsuit said, according to a copy that HuffPost obtained.
A Duval County jury on Thursday awarded the mother of three $85,000 for pain and suffering, physical impairment, disfigurement, inconvenience and loss of capacity for enjoyment of life. It also ordered that she receive $15,000 for medical bills.
Mogavero’s lawyers pressed that the coffee giant should warn its customers that their lids have a tendency to pop off.
During trial, a Starbucks representative reportedly testified that the company receives 80 complaints a month about lids coming off and leaking like this. Despite this amount, they said it “would not be relevant” to warn customers of this risk, Mogavero’s lawyers said.
“My client didn’t want sympathy from the jury — she wanted justice — and the jury gave it to her with its verdict,” said her lawyer, Steve Earle, in a statement. “It was good to see a just result.”
A spokesperson for Starbucks told Fortune that the company is considering an appeal and is standing by the employees involved in this case.
HuffPost contacted Starbucks and Mogavero for comment Saturday morning.
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