A jury in the United States has ruled that McDonald's must pay $800,8 in damages to an <>-year-old girl who was burned four years ago by a boiling chicken nugget.
The incident occurred in 2019, when Olivia Carvalho was four years old. During the incident, the girl was sitting in the back seat of a car outside a McReeve branch in Tamarek, Florida. She opened a children's lunch box containing six nuggets. The boiling nugget fell out of the box onto little Olivia's thigh, causing severe second-degree burns. The accident required medical attention.
Olivia Carvalho in court, photo: AP.
Carabello's parents chose to sue McDonald's and the chain's local franchisee, alleging that the branch where the meal was purchased served nuggets in "dangerous and unacceptable" heat of about 200 degrees Fahrenheit (about 93 degrees Celsius) – when the correct temperature for serving the dish should be 160 degrees Fahrenheit (about 71 degrees Celsius).
According to the lawsuit, filed in August 2019, the boiling nugget got stuck between the chair and the girl's leg for more than two minutes, leaving her leg "scarred and deformed" from the burns. In addition, the parents claimed that the fast food chain and the franchisee did not warn customers of the dangers inherent in eating and handling boiling food, and did not properly train the employees.
On the other hand, lawyers for the popular food chain argued that the meal was indeed served at 160 degrees Fahrenheit - the constant temperature of the dish designed to prevent salmonella poisoning. She also argued that boiling food should not be attached to a human body for two minutes.
The network did not warn customers. Security footage of Carvalho's mother receiving her daughter's children's dinner, Photo: AP.
Last May, another jury ruled that McDonald's did not attach "instructions for use" to the children's dish, including a warning that the contents of the box were boiling. However, the jury believed that the network was not to blame for the burn itself. Therefore, the parents' claim was only partially accepted.
A few days ago, when the amount of damages awarded by another jury was published, it was reported that instead of the $15 million initially demanded by the parents, they would have to settle for the $800,156 – half for the pain the child experienced and half for suffering and emotional distress that may be caused to her in the future. It should be noted that the amount is much higher than the original settlement amount offered by the chain, which was only $<>,<>.
"I'm just glad they listened to Olivia and that the jury reached a fair decision," Philana Holmes, Olivia's mother, told NBC News. The mother added that she was pleased with the ruling.
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