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An Indianapolis couple, Michael and Alexis Brennan, is suing Starbucks, claiming that they served their daughter a cup of hot chocolate, which subsequently spilled and left her with serious burns. The daughter, whose age was not given, but was young enough to fit in a car seat, was said to have been riding strapped into that car seat in the back of the car when she spilled the drink. The mother stopped the car and got out to discover that the "skin on [her] leg was falling off of her."
Starbucks is supposed to serve their kids sized drinks at about 20 degrees less than their standard temperature, putting those drinks at about 140F or so, which is hot, but not incredibly so when you consider the size of the cup and the fact that they are often topped with an inch or more of cold whipped cream, as this particular drink was. The baristas can make it at a lower temperature if requested. A high percentage of parents test the temperature of their kids' drinks by taking a sip themselves, but Ms. Brennan only subjected the drink to a visual inspection before handing it to her daughter. A small child holding a drink of any kind in the backseat of a moving car, especially if he or she is small enough to have to be confined to a car seat, sounds like a recipe for disaster, regardless of whether the drink is hot or not. The parents are, of course, seeking (unspecified) damages.
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11-26-2006 @7:59AM maggie said... This kind of stuff raises "MY temperature." The degree of hot chocolate doesn't compare to the degree of ignorance on the parents part. Oh but lets go sue somebody "Big" just because we can.
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11-26-2006 @7:59AM Dan said... Dumb asses. Burn the kid for cash. Why not just hand her a blow torch to play with. "Well gee, I looked at it. It didn't appear to be hot" (paraphrase of course since this dipshit probably can't utter an intelligent
sentence.
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11-26-2006 @8:04AM James said... I think anyone who goes into any establishment and orders hot coffee, tea or any hot drink knows that the drink is "HOT". Even if you fix it at home it's "HOT" and you know to be careful.It's common sense. It's just stupidity on these people and just want a quick and fat payday.
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11-26-2006 @8:07AM G Gutierrez said... Does Star Bucks have handling instructions or a warning label on their cups, (either coffee or chocolate)? I guess from now on all vendors will be responsible to place warning labels on all their merchandise/products? In the future, if anyone buys a gun or knife, it should too have a warning labels. If this gun is used by child or adult or even a pet may cause injury or death to anyone who encounters or uses it. This new law will force parents to read English, Spanish, Vietnamese, or etc. before they start parenting a new family. I can also imagine that every car that will be sold in the future having disclaimers, such as anyone who uses a cell phone, drinks alcoholic beverage, smokes a cigarette, and etc. while driving has a high risk of causing an accident which results in injury or even death. And the list goes on, until we all become responsible for our actions, because we only have to answer to God when our conscious approaches the light.
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11-26-2006 @8:08AM Sheila said... Maybe the child was in a "booster" type car seat. Those go up to about 100 pounds. My 8 and 6 year old are in one. I would never give my kids hot chocolate with testing the temperature--and not in a moving vehicle either! What a moron! This "parent of the year" will probably win a lot of money too, which is wrong---to reward someone for being an idiot. If she wins, the money should be strictly for her child's college fund, not to be blown on herself!
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11-26-2006 @8:07AM peter harrison said... So was the kid not wearing any clothes at the time to incure such damage. Did the parent ask for a kids temperature drink?
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11-26-2006 @8:11AM Sherrell said... I am a mom I always check to see if something was to hot for my kids. I always added extra milk to their hot drinks. You don't give a child a open cup that is why they have sippy cups. I do feel bad for the child the parents are trying to pass the blame. Lets just hope that the parents learned to test the childs drinks next time.While your testing that goes for soups they are very hot and can burn a child tongue.
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11-26-2006 @8:49AM Donna said... Actually - children up to 90 pounds should be in some kind of car seat - even a booster seat. So this could've been an older child. But parents should be smart enough to tell a child not to drink when they are taking off from a stop sign or stop light, or not to drink when Daddy is shifting the gears.
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11-26-2006 @8:11AM Carol J. Phillips said... Regarding my lawsuit, I think $500,000 is more like it than a measly $25,000.
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11-26-2006 @8:18AM SD said... What's with all this crap about McDonalds and Starbucks being liable???? Both cases are a pure lack of consumer intelligence. The McDonalds woman should have just but the cup of coffee in the CUP HOLDER like a normal person, not held it in her lap. The Starbucks parents are absolutely to blame. They're just looking to stick it the man because they made a terrible parenting decision.
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11-26-2006 @8:13AM KIMNOVAK58@AOL.COM said... The parents should be sued for stupidy...Just tring to make a buck from Starbucks..what a messed up society...
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11-26-2006 @8:14AM viggycat said... Well, they had better call "Jacky Childs" to represent them. They could be entitled to free hot chocolate for a year!
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11-26-2006 @8:14AM Colleen said... Let me guess was this Britney??? Seriously...these parents are merely trying to "make" money...any parent who hands their small child a hot drink and doesn't expect them to spill is an idiot...I only hope more coincident things don't happen to their daughter while she's growing up...(all to make money) PATHETIC...
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11-26-2006 @8:15AM Dan said... I cant believe people think Starbucks is at fault. By the same line of thinking if your kid cuts himself on a knife that you give to him should you sue or blame the manufacturer of the knife for making it to sharp? Knives need to be sharp to work. Hot chocolate is supposed to be hot otherwise it would be called warm or room temerature chocolate, and who would buy that.
I am sorry the kid had been burned, but parents have to check to make sure the things they give their kids wont hurt them first. Whenever I drink hot chocolate you take the first sip very slowly, to make sure its not so hot that you will burn yourself. If its to hot you wait a few minutes and try again until its drinkable. This should be an even more automatic thing to do for before giving it to your kid as well. I dont wish anything negative against the parents I just hope they use this as a learning experience, and that they realize that they are the ones responsible for their kids safety.
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11-26-2006 @8:16AM Mark said... Again lack of responsibility leads to a child hurt. This nation is in for a long couple decades unless we finally teach people to own up to their mistakes. Simply put COMMON SENSE says you do not give a child of ANY age much less one in a car seat a HOT cup of anything without
A) testing it (maybe keeping it upfront for a bit to let it cool down would be a good idea)
B) putting it in the appropriate container (lids are used and given out for a reason, it is not the responsibility of anyone else to determine what you feel is appropriate, us your OWN judgement screw up be willing to accept responsibility for the outcome!)
I really think this nation is doomed unless people start to quit blaming others and making excuses for themselves. (something an old teacher repeatedly told me and my classmates, Thank You Ms. Little!)
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11-26-2006 @8:17AM Tammy said... This is so stupid. People can try and sue for the stupidest things and then those who have real reason for a lawsuit does not get anywhere. I am outraged that a parent would give a child hot chocolate as hot as that was and not only that but look at all those calories your giving your child.
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11-26-2006 @8:21AM Emily Bryant said... Do remember that even if something is not hot enough to burn a parents "aged" skin, it is still possible to do this to a young person with newer skin. It happened to my 2 year old on a Mcdonalds playground in Wilmington, North Carolina. He and his older brother were outside playing as I was watching from inside to get our food and then join them. His brother took his and the younger brothers sandals off (remembering the playground rules not to wear shoes in the area) and, while the older sons feet were fine, mind you, the temperature outside was 86 degrees, the younger son recieved 2nd degree burns on both feet. Being young, he reacted by standing in the same spot when it started burning him. But, even so, factoring in these two insights of young skin and reaction differences, my question is, did the parents tell the barista it was for a child and where is the logic in giving an open drink to a young child in a moving car, especially when it is hot and colored?
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11-26-2006 @8:26AM Emmett said... Just to play devil's advocate..."skin falling off" sounds like a serious burn at home, then rush to nearest source of something hot (Starbucks), pour it on child and "shotgun litigate." At the risk of sounding cinical, sounds like a quick thinking get rich quick scheme to me.
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11-26-2006 @8:19AM John said... By definition HOT coffee or HOT chocolate is HOT. As a customer I want my coffee hot enough to remain hot while I drink it. I want it to be hot not tepid. At the usual temperature it can scald if left in contact with skin for more than a several seconds (that is why we carefully sip hot liquids). I know (and accept) the inherent risks of handling hot liquids. I take on that risk when I order my HOT coffee because I want HOT coffee. I take simple counter measures to reduce the risks (don’t take a giant gulp…just sip, don’t put between my legs …put in a cup holder, use a cub sleeve, don’t drive with an uncovered cup, oh, and don’t give to small unsupervised children in the back seat). Having said that I also expect the vender to take adequate precautions to keep the beverage from achieving instant scalding temperatures (in the range of 155F). Even at this temp to take meat off the bone would require prolonged contact or immersion.
So the issue boils down to (sorry for the pun) was someone negligent or was this just an unfortunate event? Did Starbucks serve hot chocolate at dangerously hot temperatures beyond the expected norm? Did the mother use poor judgement or take the proper actions to protect the child from the risk when she handed him the hot liquid? I fear our society’s disposition of assigning blame for when things gos wrong and for not accepting inherent risks of daily living will result in us all drinking cold coffee with a long list of disclaimers.
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11-26-2006 @8:20AM Gail said... I agree with everyone the child should never have been given a hot drink without supervision of an adult. Sounds like they looking for a way to make a quick buck. Hope they loose.
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