The family of a 4-year-old girl allegedly scalded by a steaming hot Chicken McNugget is taking McDonald’s to court in Broward County, faulting the fast-food giant for poor training and failing to protect its customers.
Philana Holmes says in her lawsuit that she took her daughter to the McDonald’s restaurant in Tamarac in 2019 and ordered a six-piece Happy Meal with milk and a Lion King toy.
“The Chicken McNuggets inside of that Happy Meal were unreasonably and dangerously hot and caused [the victim’s] skin and flesh around her thighs to burn,” the lawsuit states. The burns were second-degree, according to the lawsuit, and the chicken was on her thigh for nearly two minutes. The girl, whose name is not disclosed in the lawsuit, is autistic and will not be testifying.
Lawsuits in state court don’t require plaintiffs to be specific about how much money they are seeking, but it is above $15,000.
Broward Circuit Judge David Haimes split the trial into two parts — the first will determine whether McDonald’s is responsible for the burn. If McDonald’s loses, a second trial will determine damages.
Lawyers for McDonald’s said in court Monday that they plan to argue the burn was caused at least in part by the length of time the nugget spent in contact with the victim’s skin. Plaintiff’s lawyers say the nuggets were more than 200 degrees Farenheit.
“We take every complaint seriously and certainly those that involve the safety of our food and the experiences of our guests,” McDonald’s USA said in a statement issued late Monday. “This matter was looked into thoroughly. Ensuring a high standard for food safety and quality means following strict policies and procedures for each product we cook and serve. Those policies and procedures were followed in this case and we therefore respectfully disagree with the plaintiff’s claims.”
Jury selection in the first part of the case took place Monday, and opening statements are scheduled for Tuesday. Potential jurors described a variety of experiences with the fast-food giant, from frustration with broken ice cream machines to complaints about food that was too hot or too cold.
McDonald’s was famously ordered to pay $3 million to a New Mexico woman in 1994 after a spilled cup of coffee left her with third-degree burns on her thighs. That case became a rallying point for tort reform, with lawmakers complaining about runaway juries. Legal scholars also have defended the jury’s decision by pointing out the excessively high temperature of the coffee and the harm to the plaintiff.
A judge later reduced the punitive damages to less than $500,000.
Holmes and the young girl’s father, Humberto Caraballo Estevez, filed the suit in 2019, represented by Hollywood lawyers Jordan Redavid and John Fischer.
The defendants, the McDonald’s corporation and Upchurch Foods, which owns the Tamarac franchise, are represented by Tampa attorneys Scott Yount, George Duncan and Kory Ickler.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include a statement from the McDonald’s corporate office.
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