Jennifer M. Wood | Men’s Journal | Mach 15, 2025
On February 8, 2020, Postmates driver Michael Garcia pulled up to a Starbucks drive-thru in Los Angeles to pick up a customer’s order, and was served a lapful of piping hot tea.
Garcia sued the chain, claiming that the barista who was serving him three venti-sized teas via the drive-thru window was “negligent” in failing to secure the cups into the take-out tray. Within 1.4 seconds of Garcia taking the beverages, one cup fell onto his lap. The incident was captured on video by the store’s cameras.
“Starbucks says if our hands are off the drink, then no matter what happens, we’re not responsible,” Nicholas Rowley, Garcia’s attorney, said in a statement. “So, if I’m Starbucks and I hand you a drink that doesn’t have a lid that’s secured, and it’s a scalding hot, 180-degree drink, or if I hand you a drink that’s in a container and it’s loose and it’s not secured, and it falls right on you—the moment that I take my hands off of it, then you’re responsible and I, the corporation, am not.”
Clearly, the courts disagreed. On Friday, a jury ordered that the Seattle-based coffee chain pay out $50 million in damages to Garcia, who claims the incident left him with severe injuries, including third-degree burns, nerve damage, permanent injury to his genitals, and PTSD. Garcia has since undergone several surgeries, and his lawyers say he is in pain every day from the incident.
“Michael Garcia’s life has been forever changed,” Rowley continued. “No amount of money can undo the permanent catastrophic harm he has suffered, but this jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility.”
In a statement to CBS News Los Angeles, a Starbucks spokesperson shared the following statement: “We sympathize with Mr. Garcia, but we disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive. We plan to appeal. We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks.”