A jury in Florida has ruled that McDonald’s and a franchise owner are liable for burns suffered by a four-year-old girl while eating hot chicken nuggets.
On Thursday, a jury in Fort Lauderdale reached a split verdict in a lawsuit filed by the girl’s parents, Philana Holmes and Humberto Caraballo Estevez, over the incident that took place in 2019, reported NBC Miami.
The couple sued the McDonald’s Corporation and franchisee Upchurch Foods, Incorporated, also known as Upchurch Management.
The suit claimed the girl suffered second-degree burns from the “unreasonably and dangerously” hot nuggets in her “Happy Meal”, the outlet reported.
It said that one nugget allegedly got stuck in her car seat and burned the child’s leg.
Both McDonald’s and Upchurch have said that they were not at fault.
The jury said McDonald’s and Upchurch failed to put warnings on the food.
It did not, however, find McDonald’s negligent for causing the burns.
The girl’s parents said they were “thankful” that their child’s voice was heard.
Both Mc Donald’s and franchise owner Brent Upchurch said they disagreed with the verdict.
“We take every complaint seriously and certainly those that involve the safety of our food and the experiences of our customers. Together with our franchisees, for nearly 70 years, we have consistently served customers safe, high-quality food using strict policies and procedures,” the McDonald’s statement read.
“This was an unfortunate incident, but we respectfully disagree with the verdict. Our customers should continue to rely on McDonald’s to follow policies and procedures for serving Chicken McNuggets safely.”
Franchise owner Brent Upchurch said: “We are deeply disappointed with today’s verdict because the facts show that our restaurant in Tamarac, Florida did indeed follow those protocols when cooking and serving this Happy Meal.”
A separate trial will determine how much McDonald’s and Upchurch Foods will pay in damages.
