The family of Philana Holmes and Humberto Caraballo has won a case against McDonald’s and its franchisee Upchurch Foods. A jury in Fort Lauderdale on Friday said McDonald’s and Upchurch Foods were guilty of serving very hot chicken that burned a 4-year-old girl, Olivia Caraballo, in 2019.
According to the facts of the case, Holmes had bought McDonald’s Happy Meals for her children at a drive-thru window in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale. She gave the food to her children who were seated in the back seat and then drove off. But Olivia, who is autistic, began screaming loudly and Holmes quickly pulled over to see what was wrong.
The mother found that a hot chicken had fallen from the Happy Meals food back onto Olivia’s leg, and the seat belt held the hot chicken against the girl’s leg, giving her second-degree burns. The audio clips of the girl screaming with pain were played in court and photos of her burned leg and thigh were shown in court.
Holmes and Caraballo held McDonald’s and Upchurch responsible for their daughter’s burns, but the food outlet said they were not at fault for the injury. Lawyers for the parents said the chicken nuggets were “unreasonable and dangerously” hot and above 200 degrees hot. But McDonald’s lawyers said the food was no hotter than 160 degrees, and that it had to be hot to prevent salmonella poisoning.
The jury ruled that McDonald’s and Upchurch were liable for the girl’s injury because the food did not contain a warning that it was hot, and there were no instructions on how customers should handle hot food safely. Another jury will convene in September to determine how much should be paid to the complainants as compensation.
Both companies said they were disappointed with the jury’s ruling.
“This was an unfortunate incident, but we respectfully disagree with the verdict,” McDonald’s said in a statement. “Our customers should continue to rely on McDonald’s to follow policies and procedures for serving Chicken McNuggets safely. Together with our franchisees, for nearly 70 years, we have consistently served customers safe, high-quality food using strict policies and procedures.”
The owner of Upchurch Management, Brent Upchurch, said his restaurant had been complying with food safety procedures for over 50 years and was disappointed with the jury’s decision.
“Our sympathies go out to this family for what occurred in this unfortunate incident, as we hold customer safety as one of our highest priorities,” he stated. “We are deeply disappointed with today’s verdict because the facts show that our restaurant in Tamarac, Florida did indeed follow those protocols when cooking and serving this Happy Meal.”