Buying McDonald’s signature Chicken McNuggets might cost someone just under $5, but an 8-year-old Florida girl and her family just won $800k for damages in a lawsuit against the iconic snack. To put things in perspective, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of the little girl after she received second-degree burns when a hot Chicken McNugget fell on her leg. This happened when the girl was four years old, and her mother was pulling away from the drive-thru of a McDonald’s restaurant. Let’s look at the McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets lawsuit in detail and how the Florida girl received $800k for damages.
Exploring the Chicken McNuggets lawsuit in Florida
The young girl, Olivia Caraballo, suffered a singular burn from the McNuggets when she was four in 2019. Her family’s lawyers were originally seeking $15 million in damages. According to reports, the Florida jury reached the final verdict in less than two hours of deliberation.
The total $800,000 damages is split into two halves – $400,000 for the injuries the kid suffered the past four years and $400,000 for the future. The payments come from McDonald’s USA and its franchise operator, Upchurch Foods.
The original incident happened in a McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurant in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale. In May, the company and franchise owner were found liable for the injury. The young girl’s mother had bought Happy Meals for her son and daughter.
The hot Chicken McNuggets from the order fell on the girl’s lap as her mother drove away. She screamed in pain as the nugget was stuck between her thigh and the seat belt.
Olivia’s mother vs the defense lawyers
The young girl’s mother, Philana Holmes, was happy about the judgment and called it fair. As of now, Olivia still calls the scar on her thigh her ‘nugget’ and wants it removed. The opposition had initially argued that $156k should appropriately cover damages.
McDonald’s lawyers were clearly not pleased with the verdict. According to them, the child’s pain lasted only momentarily. All of her discomfort was gone once the wound healed in three weeks. They blamed the mother for continuing to drag it out in court.
The team argues that the mother and child still go to McDonald’s voluntarily and drive through the same area to get chicken nuggets. It’s only the mother who is bothered by the injury and not the child.
How did the Florida girl win $800k for damages?
The case became strong since McDonald’s did not caution the girl or her mother that the food’s temperature was unusually high. According to the company’s food safety rules, the item has to be hot enough to avoid salmonella poisoning.
Anything that happened after the food left the restaurant was beyond McDonald’s purview. However, the girl’s family argued that the nuggets’ temperature was more than 200 degrees (93 Celsius) which resulted in the burn.
To further support their case, the girl’s mother had taken pictures of the burn and recorded audio clips of her child screaming during the incident. All these were shown as proof in the court.
You can share questions about the Florida girl’s McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets lawsuit. For more content, stay with us here at Spiel Times. Make sure you subscribe to our push notifications and never miss an update. You can also follow us on Spiel Anime, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Until next time!