Why does Starbucks have to pay 50 million dollars to a customer?

The Starbucks coffee chain must pay $50 million in compensation to a man who got a hot drink spilled on his lap at a drive-in.

In 2020, the man sued Starbucks in California because he had "suffered severe burns, disfigurement, and serious nerve damage to his genitals when the hot drink was spilled".

At the Starbucks drive-in, the man had ordered three drinks. One of the drinks wasn't properly secured in the cup holder. When the Starbucks employee handed him his order, one of the hot drinks landed on his lap.

According to his lawyers, the man suffered third-degree burns to his penis, groin, and inner thighs. After his hospitalisation, "he has been living with the disfigurement, pain, dysfunction, and psychological damage caused by the burns for the last five years," his lawyers said.

A jury has now ordered Starbucks to pay $50 million in compensation. The chain has already announced that it will appeal the verdict, considering the compensation as "excessive".

(MH with MaSi with DC - Source: CNN, NYT - Image: © Unsplash)