A Florida court has awarded a mother $800,000 from McDonald’s after her daughter suffered second-degree burns from a piping hot McNugget that fell into her lap in 2019.
The jury reached its verdict after less than two hours of deliberations on Wednesday afternoon. They allocated $400,000 in compensation for the past four years and $400,000 for the future.
The family’s attorney sought a $15 million award.
Philana Holmes, the child’s mother, said she was glad the court accepted her daughter’s story, adding she thought the jury’s award was fair.
‘I’m happy with that. I really had no expectations, so it’s more than fair to me,’ he told reporters outside court.
An image of Philana Holmes was handed to Happy Mills moments before her daughter was burned
In court Wednesday, Holmes hugged his attorney, Kayla Smith, after the jury’s decision to award the family $800,000.
Holmes testified her daughter Olivia, now eight, calls the scar on her inner thigh her ‘nugget’ and hopes to have it removed.
John Fisher, an attorney for the family, argued that Olivia Carabello deserves $5 million in damages for the past four years, and an additional $10 million to cover the next 74 years — her estimated life span.
‘When we walk out those doors, that’s it. We can’t come back and say let’s test Olivia in five years, let’s test her in 10 years… You’ve got to do it now or you’ll never do it again,’ he said during closing arguments.
Attorneys for the large fast-food chain argued that Olivia’s pain and discomfort ended when her wounds healed, which they argued took three weeks. They said the $156,000 would be enough to cover past and future costs related to the incident.
‘He’s still going to McDonald’s, he’s still asking to go to McDonald’s, he’s still driving through the drive-thru with his mom, getting chicken nuggets. He is not upset about the injury. This is all mom,’ said defense attorney Jennifer Miller.
In May, a different jury determined McDonald’s and Upchurch — the drive-thru franchisees where the offending nuggets were purchased — were responsible for Olivia’s burns.
Holmes testified that he bought Happy Meals for his daughter and son and fed them in the backseat before driving off. He said he was not warned that his food might be unusually hot.
As Olivia begins to scream in pain, Holmes pulls into a parking lot, where he watches her burn. In addition to the sound clip of Olivia’s screams, he snapped some pictures from it, which were shown in court.
The pictures and clips were shown to the May jury and later to the second jury.
Holmes and her daughter Olivia listen to the final witness in their case at the Broward County Courthouse last month. A separate jury determined weeks ago that McDonald’s and the franchise owner of the drive-thru could be held liable for the arson.
Jurors were shown photos of Olivia with second-degree burns on Tuesday
Holmes said he hopes the chain will start labeling their chicken nugget boxes with a heat warning label, even though they are under no legal obligation to do so.
Jurors heard testimony from medical experts, as well as Olivia’s parents, who said that in the weeks following the incident, the burn was bright red and painful – so much so that the then four-year-old would have crashed rather than been dragged down. His underwear for fear of touching the burn.
The burn eventually turns into a small, raised scar that causes the child no physical pain. However, his lawyer argued, the pain has turned into mental anguish.
Family attorney Kayla Smith said the scar will stay with Olivia for the rest of her life. No medical surgery or treatment will be able to remove it completely – only ‘correct’ it.
‘It is not perfection, it is not a badge of honor to be scarred as a woman. It’s not fair at all, but that’s the society we live in,’ he said.
The incident is similar to the famous 1994 incident where Stella Liebeck was burned by hot McDonald’s coffee. In that case, McDonald’s was ordered to pay about $3 million, but the exact figure was later settled on appeal. Since then, coffee cups come with a warning label.
After the verdict, Olivia, 8, ‘continues her speech therapy, continues school, continues to be a beautiful little girl. And at some point, hopefully the scar will be corrected,’ her mother said
After the verdict, Smith said he believed the ‘jury had spoken’ with their decision. ‘We wanted to know what the evidence supports, what we think is fair.’
McDonald’s legal team declined to comment after the ruling.
Holmes said he hopes the chain will start labeling their chicken nugget boxes with a heat warning label, even though they are under no legal obligation to do so.
Holmes added that, for now, her daughter is ‘continuing her speech therapy, continuing school, being a beautiful little girl. And at some point, hopefully the scar will be corrected.’
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