Personal Injury Law

Starbucks Hot Tea Lawsuit

A woman has sued Starbucks for serving ?unreasonably hot? tea, causing her second degree burns. Reuters has the article which includes reader comments. All of the commentators are rushing to judgment, claiming either the woman is pond scum (95%) or that Starbucks was "clearly negligent." Adding to the fun, the Plaintiff does not have a European name. So we get bonus racism and xenophobia in addition to the inaccurate conclusions of law. It is a win-win situation for all.

Gun to my head, I suspect this is not a legitimate claim. But who knows? Did Starbucks know or have reason to know that it was serving a liquid that was much hotter than industry standards require?

The immediate rush to judgment (people, didn't Johnnie Cochran teach us anything?) and people's abilities to make breathtaking leaps of logic/faith with absolutely no evidence is always disconcerting.

• Eric Turkewitz provides more commentary

Full post as published by Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog on May 06, 2010 (boomark / email).