Hot beverage lawsuits have a reputation problem. Pop culture remembers them as punchlines, but the actual verdicts tell a very different story — one of third-degree burns, skin grafts, and juries willing to hand down eye-watering sums when a company ignores known risks. Here are the three largest hot coffee and tea burn awards in US history.
1. Garcia v. Starbucks — $50 million (2025)
The record now belongs to Michael Garcia, a Los Angeles delivery driver who was burned in February 2020 when a barista handed him a tray of three venti-sized hot teas through a drive-thru window. According to his attorneys, one cup wasn’t secured properly in the carrier, and within 1.4 seconds of Garcia taking the tray, it tipped and spilled, causing third-degree burns to his groin and inner thighs.
Garcia rejected a pre-trial $30 million settlement offer from Starbucks and took the case to a Los Angeles County jury instead. On March 14, 2025, jurors found Starbucks 100% liable and awarded the full $50 million in compensatory damages — covering physical injury, emotional distress, and diminished quality of life. Unlike older hot-beverage cases, none of it was punitive, and the judge declined to reduce the award. Starbucks has said it plans to appeal.
2. Liebeck v. McDonald’s — $2.9 million jury verdict (1994)
No hot coffee case is more famous than Stella Liebeck’s. The 79-year-old suffered third-degree burns over her thighs and groin after spilling a 49-cent cup of McDonald’s coffee in her lap, requiring eight days of hospitalization and skin grafts. Discovery in the case revealed that McDonald’s had received more than 700 prior burn complaints and mandated its coffee be held at a scalding 180–190°F.
A New Mexico jury awarded her $200,000 in compensatory damages (reduced to $160,000 for comparative fault) plus $2.7 million in punitive damages — together nearly $2.9 million. The trial judge later slashed the punitive award, and the case ultimately settled confidentially for under $600,000 before an appeal could be decided. Even reduced, it remains the case every hot beverage lawsuit since has been measured against.
3. Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru burn — $3 million settlement (2024)
Three decades after Liebeck, the same fact pattern is still playing out. A 70-year-old Georgia woman received a $3 million settlement from Dunkin’ after a 2021 drive-thru incident in which an employee handed her a cup with an unsecured lid. The lid detached, spilling scalding coffee onto her abdomen, groin, and thighs and causing second- and third-degree burns.
Her medical expenses alone exceeded $200,000, and she required extensive skin grafts along with months in a burn unit relearning to walk. The case was brought against Golden Donuts, LLC, the franchisee operating that location — a reminder that franchise owners, not just corporate parent companies, can be on the hook for these payouts.
The pattern behind the numbers
All three cases share a common thread: it wasn’t the temperature of the drink alone that drove the verdict, but evidence of negligence — an unsecured lid, ignored complaint history, or a company that knew about the risk and didn’t act. That distinction is exactly why these lawsuits keep succeeding despite their reputation as jokes: juries aren’t punishing companies for serving hot coffee, they’re punishing them for handling it carelessly.
This post is for informational purposes only and is not meant to be legal advice.
