Starbucks Sued over "Unreasonably" Hot Tea
National News
Starbucks Corp has been sued by a customer who allegedly suffered second-degree burns after being served tea that was too hot.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff Zeynep Inanli was served tea that was "unreasonably hot, in containers which were not safe," at a Starbucks store at 685 Third Avenue in Manhattan.
As a result of Starbucks' negligence, the plaintiff suffered "great physical pain and mental anguish," including the burns, the complaint said.
The plaintiff seeks unspecified damages.
Starbucks, based in Seattle, did not immediately return requests for comment. The plaintiff's lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment.
Retailers periodically face lawsuits for serving beverages at temperatures that customers say are too high.
In one well-known case, a jury in 1994 ordered McDonald's Corp to pay $2.86 million to Stella Liebeck, an Albuquerque, New Mexico woman who claimed she scalded herself with the restaurant's coffee. The parties later settled.
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.