Jury Awards $800,000 to a Girl Burned by a Chicken McNugget
A Florida jury awarded $800,000 in damages to a 7-year-old girl on Wednesday for the suffering and mental anguish caused when a Chicken McNugget fell on her thigh, causing a second-degree burn.
The burn happened in 2019 when she was visiting a McDonald’s at age 4, and the case drew comparisons to a famous, and successful, lawsuit against the fast-food chain by a woman who was scalded by hot coffee more than 30 years ago.
The jury in Broward County awarded the girl, Olivia Caraballo, the damages for pain, suffering and other forms of mental anguish — $400,000 for the pain she endured and an additional $400,000 for any future suffering resulting from the injury, according to court documents. Lawyers for the family had asked for $15 million.
The suit was brought in state court by Olivia’s parents, Philana Holmes and Humberto Caraballo Estevez, against McDonald’s and Upchurch Foods, the franchise operator in Tamarac, Fla. In May, a separate jury determined that the two companies were liable for failing to provide reasonable instructions or warnings — on the packaging, for example — about the risks of injuries that could result from a Chicken McNuggets meal, which comes with pieces of white chicken meat.
Source: The New York Times
