Woman Sues Starbucks After Hot Tea Spills On Her And Kills Her Dog

A Denver woman sued Starbucks after hot tea from the coffee chain reportedly caused some severe injuries, and even an alleged death.

According to KDVR, Denver resident Deanna Salas-Solano attributes a loose lid to her burns and her dog’s death.

Salas-Solano said she bought hot tea at a local Starbucks drive-thru which did not have a hot sleeve. Because of that, she spilled it onto herself, causing severe burns. Her dog, who jumped up on her lap, also got hot tea on itself, causing burns that allegedly led to its death at an emergency vet hospital.

The burns Salas-Solano received from the hot tea were enough to require skin grafts.

Scalding hot drinks in drive-thru establishments are nothing new, but companies serving them have been sued before. The world-famous Liebeck vs. Mcdonald’s case, for example, got that chain to stop serving ridiculously hot coffee. Stella Liebeck, the plaintiff in that case, got severe burns as a result of the hot coffee and won over $480,000 in damages.

While Salas-Solano claims that the cup had no hot sleeve, video evidence Starbucks gave to KDVR showed otherwise. However, it was unclear as to whether the lid was secure or not. Starbucks has had complaints and suits about insecure lids in the past. In fact, one such event resulted in another woman getting severe burns. She received $100,000 in that lawsuit.

As for this lawsuit, Salas-Solano is seeking $100,000 for her burns and other damages surrounding her dog’s death from the hot tea spill. We’ll have to wait and see if she wins or not, but history is definitely not on Starbucks’ side.