Dunkin’ Donuts Lawsuit: Hot Apple Cider Was Too Hot


A lawsuit against Dunkin’ Donuts claims a customer was badly burned because the store’s hot apple cider was just too hot.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit, a 24-year-old New Jersey woman, alleges that she received second- and third degree burns when the cider spilled onto her lap because the lid wasn’t properly secured and that the liquid’s hotness was “beyond industry standards.”

She purchased the hot apple cider from a Belleville, N.J., Dunkin’ Donuts store in September 2012, according to the newly filed legal complaint.

Her lawyer Amos Gern claims that she suffered permanent scars on her inner thighs because of the cider spill and is seeking both compensatory and punitive money damages from the chain for product liability, negligence, and breach of warranty.

Dunkin’ Donuts has not yet commented on the pending case, but according to a company representative, “all Dunkin’ Donuts’ hot beverage cups display a warning that reads, ‘CAUTION: THIS BEVERAGE IS EXTREMELY HOT.’ ”

According to Gern, however, “The issue, however… is the temperature of the cider, which was too high. ‘You can’t get third degree burns unless it’s too hot for consumption,’ he said.”

This is hardly the first personal injury case of this nature from the past or present. But it does remind some of the lawsuit brought against McDonald’s in the 1990s by an elderly woman who sued the fast-food chain after accidentally spilling hot coffee in her lap. She won nearly $3 million from a jury for her injuries, which a judge subsequently reduced to $400,000. The case later settled out of court for an undisclosed amount rather than continue working its way through the appeals process.. A Los Angeles woman is currently suing McDonald’s for hot coffee spill that allegedly burned her.

Before this lawsuit against Dunkin’ Donuts, were you even aware that Dunkin’ Donuts sold hot apple cider?

[image credit: Anthony92931]

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