A South Florida jury has awarded $800,000 in damages to a Florida girl who suffered second-degree burns when a hot Chicken McNugget fell on her leg as her mother drove away from a McDonald’s drive-thru. The incident occurred in 2019 when Olivia Caraballo was just 4 years old. The family’s lawyers initially sought $15 million in damages, but the jury reached their decision after less than two hours of deliberation, awarding $400,000 for the past four years and another $400,000 for the future.
The verdict implicated both McDonald’s USA and its franchise operator, Upchurch Foods. In May of the same year, a separate jury had already found the company and franchise owner liable for the injury that occurred outside a McDonald’s in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale.
Olivia’s mother, Philana Holmes, expressed her satisfaction with the outcome, stating that she is glad that the jury listened to her daughter’s voice and came to a fair judgment. Olivia, who is now 8 years old, has a scar on her inner thigh, which she refers to as her “nugget,” and is determined to have it removed.
McDonald’s defense attorneys argued that the child’s discomfort ended once the wound healed, which took approximately three weeks. They contended that the issue with the scar was primarily the mother’s concern and suggested that $156,000 would be sufficient to cover both past and future damages.
The incident occurred when Holmes purchased Happy Meals for her son and daughter, with Olivia seated in the back. As they drove away, the hot nugget fell onto Olivia’s leg, causing her to scream in pain. When Holmes pulled over in a parking lot, she discovered the nugget lodged between Olivia’s thigh and the seat belt.
During the trial, Holmes testified that McDonald’s never warned her about the unusually hot food. The company, on the other hand, argued that they follow food safety rules, which require McNuggets to be served at a temperature high enough to avoid salmonella poisoning, but what happens to the food afterward is beyond their control.
While both sides agreed that the nugget caused the burns, they disputed the temperature of the nugget during the trial. The family’s lawyers argued that it was above 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 Celsius), while the defense claimed it was no more than 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 Celsius). In court, photos of the burn and sound clips of Olivia’s screams were presented as evidence.
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This case may remind some of the infamous McDonald’s coffee lawsuit from the 1990s, which gained notoriety as a seemingly frivolous lawsuit. However, a jury and judge had found the case to be far from frivolous. In that instance, a New Mexico jury awarded 81-year-old Stella Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages after she suffered third-degree burns from hot coffee spilled onto her lap from McDonald’s. She had initially asked for $20,000 to cover hospital expenses, but the case went to trial. The judge later reduced the award to $480,000, citing McDonald’s “willful, wanton, reckless,” and “callous” behavior.
