Starbucks was ordered to pay Michael Garcia, a delivery driver who was burned by hot tea in a California drive-thru, $50 million, a Los Angeles jury decided on March 14, 2025. The coffeehouse chain ...

NBC News reports that a jury agreed the coffee chain was ... s lawyers claimed that the Starbucks employee “failed to properly secure that drink in the carrier,” NBC writes.

The scalding hot tea spilled into Michael Garcia's lap during a drive-thru handoff in 2023, leaving him with permanent damage ...

The cashier handed him a drink carrier with multiple ... lid that dislodged and spilled hot coffee on Garcia, causing third degree burns and nerve damage. Starbucks' lawyers argued that the ...

"The barista working the window negligently failed to properly 'seat' or 'secure' one of the hot drinks into a drink carrier ... Starbucks has disputed the verdict, and the Seattle-based coffee ...

Coffee giant Starbucks has been ordered to pay $50 million ... a barista can be seen placing three beverages into a drink carrier at a Starbucks pickup window before handing it to Garcia.

Starbucks' profitability has been decreasing, with a 5-year profit margin drop from 14.45% in 2020 to 9.73% in 2024. See why ...

The incident occurred on February 8, 2020, when the delivery driver suffered severe burns at a Los Angeles Starbucks drive-through after a barista failed to properly secure a hot drink.