Dunkin' is the latest chain to be sued over injuries caused by hot coffee spillages. An expert says these types of cases are frivolous and very difficult to win.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File
- A man from New Jersey filed a lawsuit against Dunkin earlier this month over a hot coffee spillage.
- Dunkin' and Starbucks have been sued by customers in the past for injuries caused by hot drinks.
- Experts say cases pertaining to hot coffee spillages are the "epitome of frivolous lawsuits."
Dunkin' is the latest chain to be sued by a customer over a hot coffee spillage.
According to a lawsuit viewed by Insider, the claimants suing the coffee chain are a husband and wife couple. The husband suffered injuries when hot coffee was spilled on his lap, per the claim.
Evan Arlington and his wife, Stephanie Arlington-Macias, filed the lawsuit in the Superior Court of Passaic County on April 4.
Per the lawsuit, things went wrong when the pair ordered two hot coffees and one iced coffee at a Dunkin' location in Totowa, New Jersey.
"Defendants were negligent in the preparation, sale, and service of the coffee to plaintiff in that it was too hot," the lawsuit said. It added: "As a result thereof, plaintiff Evan Arlington has been severely injured, has suffered and in the future will suffer great pain and mental anguish."
Arlington suffered a permanent injury due to the incident, the lawsuit stated. According to the claim, he has also had to allocate funds toward future medical treatments that will subsequently cause him to suffer a loss of income.
The wife, Arlington-Macias didn't go unaffected. The lawsuit stated she "suffered a loss of her husband's aid, comfort, conjugal fellowship and consortium," following the incident.
According to the filing, Arlington's lawyer William Gold of New Jersey-based law firm Bendit Weinstock has demanded answers from Dunkin' regarding the temperature range that Dunkin' serves hot coffee and the temperature of the beverage was when it was served to Arlington.
Dunkin' has been hit with other lawsuits recently over the temperature of their coffees.
Last year, Angela Barbarosa from Brockton, Massachusetts, sued the donut chain when she suffered serious burns and nerve damage after a tray of hot coffees she had ordered spilled on her.
"The Dunkin Donuts employee had negligently failed properly to cap the coffees, or placed them firmly into the tray, and as the tray was brought into the car, the coffees came loose and tipped their scalding hot contents onto the Plaintiff, which scalded her legs and buttocks," the lawsuit stated.
The incident left Barbarosa with permanent scars on her body. The suit further alleged that Barbarosa suffered "extreme embarrassment" after being "laughed at and mocked" by staff when she was forced to rip off her leggings having been soaked in hot coffee.
Among other coffee chains, Starbucks has been hit with lawsuits over hot beverage injuries.
Last August, a woman in Texas sued the coffee chain, saying she suffered first-and second-degree burns when she handed a Starbucks coffee back to a barista after she was given the wrong drink.
The lawsuit, filed in Harris County District Court, accused the company of failing to train and supervise its baristas properly, secure the lids on drinks safely, and keep the drive-thru safe.
Dunkin' and Starbucks did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Dan Cox, a legal expert with 39 years of experience handling lawsuits over hot spillages, told Insider that the question at hand is usually how the beverage was handled. "Everyday coffee & tea drinkers consume millions of beverages without incident," Cox said. "It only becomes an issue when it is used improperly i.e. spilled," he added.
Cox suggested the likelihood of claimants winning their case against coffee chains was slim. He said he's worked on more than 80 lawsuits over hot coffee spillages, "with no end in sight."
Echoing Cox, personal injury lawyer Kevin Biniazan of Virginia-based law firm Breit Biniazan, told Insider that cases involving hot coffee spillages and injuries that result from it are very difficult to win, and to many people, are the "epitome of frivolous lawsuits."
The verdict in the US usually comes to "whether the product or what's being served is unreasonably dangerous," Biniazan said. "The reality is that to win a lawsuit like this, it's not enough to prove that it's hot, you have to prove that it's unreasonably dangerous," he added.
"If the person serving the coffee is acting reasonably and doing something that's expected of them in that circumstance, just because it results in the coffee spilling doesn't mean they acted negligently or they acted wrongfully," he continued.
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