JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Venti Pike Place coffee cost her about $2.50. It ended up costing Starbucks about 40,000 times that.
In the latest hot-coffee lawsuit, a Florida woman was awarded $100,492 Thursday after a 2014 incident at a Starbucks drive-thru in Jacksonville left her physically scarred, reports the New York Post.
According to defense lawyers, Joanne Mogavero, a 43-year-old mother of three, had received a cup of coffee from a barista and was attempting to hand it to a passenger when the lid popped off and the 190-degree drink spilled in her lap, leaving her with permanent scarring from first and second-degree burns.
Mogavero accused Starbucks of “failing to adequately” fasten the lid, while her lawyers argued Starbucks should warn customers that lids may pop off, reports the Wall Street Journal.
After a Starbucks rep testified that the company receives 80 complaints about lids per month, a Duval County jury found Starbucks 80% at fault for the spill and awarded Mogavero $15,492 for medical bills, plus $85,000 for pain and suffering.
“My client didn’t want sympathy from the jury—she wanted justice—and the jury gave it to her,” her lawyer says. Starbucks’ stance: “As we said in trial, we stand behind our store partners (employees) in this case and maintain that they did nothing wrong.” The coffee giant is considering an appeal.
(This woman was paid $522,000 after tripping and spilling her coffee.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: The Coffee Cost Her $2.50. It Cost Starbucks $100K
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