In a odd story that has turned viral in the past few days, it has come out that in Raleigh there's a Starbucks police officer lawsuit, which stems from the fact that a North Carolina cop's coffee was so hot he ended up with $750,000 worth of medical bills after spilling it.
In the past few months, Starbucks has been focusing its efforts in expanding to new venues like Ferguson, Missouri, as well as launching new products like the flat white and s'mores Frappuccino - however, the new Starbucks police officer lawsuit shows that they might need to focus more on how things are being currently managed.
According to US News, the Starbucks police officer lawsuit became public earlier this week, on Wednesday, when Raleigh lieutenant Matthew Kohr explained to jurors that he severely burned himself with a free cup of Starbucks coffee recently and wanted the Seattle-based chain to pay for his medical and legal expenses.
The situation that led to the Starbucks police officer lawsuit occurred at a local branch of the coffee giant in January 2012, when Kohr was driving in his car and the coffee cup reportedly collapsed in his hand, ultimately burning him in his thigh and groin area, aggravating his preexistent Crohn's disease and leading to a surgery which ultimately meant the removal of part of his large intestine, according to The Star.
The policeman has been seeking legal action since then - Wral reports that, originally, he and his wife were thinking of suing the company for a much larger sum: $10 million.
As news outlets such as ABC News have pointed out, the Starbucks police officer lawsuit bears strong similarities to a 1994 case, when a McDonald's customer awarded an injured customer almost $2.9 million after having spilled his coffee in a similar fashion, when the golden arches chain refused to settle out of court.
As the Starbucks police officer lawsuit reaches court, lawyers for the chain have stated that the coffee wasn't that hot and that, in the original documents, Kohr stated that he'd waited for hours between the burn and seeking treatment at an emergency room, as he allegedly went home to take pictures of his injuries.
