Sonic Drive-In Burn Injury Lawsuits: a Settled Texas Coffee Case, a Louisiana Ruling, and How to Sue (Updated November 2026)

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

What to do after a Sonic burn

1. Cool a minor burn under cool running water, not ice water, for 5 to 30 minutes, and do not pull off clothing stuck to the skin. Call 911 if the burn is about the size of your palm or larger or looks full-thickness (MedlinePlus).
2. Get burn center care for deep burns. Under the American Burn Association’s referral guidelines, a deep partial-thickness or full-thickness burn of the genitals or perineum calls for immediate burn center consultation, as does any full-thickness burn or a partial-thickness burn covering 10% or more of the body (ABA referral guidelines). In both cases below, the coffee landed in the customer’s lap.
3. Keep the cup, lid and tray or carrier, plus any food container, together.
4. Save your receipt, app order or the stall number where you parked.
5. Photograph the seat where the spill landed, and the burn every day.
6. Get the carhop’s name if you can, and the names of witnesses in nearby stalls.
7. Have a lawyer send the operator an evidence preservation letter promptly so it keeps any video of the stall and the window. Our after-a-burn checklist covers the rest.

Beverly Law is not affiliated with Sonic.

How a Sonic drive-in works

In its annual report for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2018, Sonic Corp. described a typical drive-in as a kitchen of about 1,500 square feet “flanked by canopy-covered rows of 16 to 24 parking spaces,” each with its own payment terminal, intercom and menu board. The customer orders from the parked car “and has the food delivered by a carhop.” The report added that many drive-ins “also include a drive-thru lane and patio seating” (Sonic Form 10-K, fiscal 2018).

Who owns Sonic and who runs your drive-in

The same 10-K counted 3,606 Sonic Drive-Ins in 45 states as of August 31, 2018. Franchisees owned and operated 3,427 of them, and Sonic Restaurants, Inc., the company’s operating subsidiary, ran 179. About 35% of the drive-ins were in Texas and Oklahoma, and the headquarters was in Oklahoma City (Sonic Form 10-K).

Sonic Corp. became part of Inspire Brands on December 7, 2018, when Inspire completed a $2.3 billion acquisition (Inspire Brands). Inspire’s own site, which also lists Dunkin’ and Arby’s among its brands, showed Sonic with “3,400+” restaurants in 47 states when we checked in November 2026 (Inspire Brands).

With most drive-ins franchised, the local operator usually hired and trained the carhop and holds the video, incident report and training file. In California, a franchisor answers for a franchisee’s employees only if it kept or took on general control over day-to-day matters such as hiring and supervision (Patterson v. Domino’s Pizza, 2014).

Hot items at Sonic

Sonic’s 2018 annual report lists hot dogs, including “footlong quarter-pound coneys,” made-to-order cheeseburgers, chicken, “hand-made onion rings and tater tots,” and breakfast burritos, with the full menu served all day (Sonic Form 10-K).

Sonic’s filings and website, as far as we could find, give no serving temperature for its coffee or other hot drinks. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission does publish how quickly hot water burns skin (CPSC):

Reported case: Helen Julian’s suit against a Sonic franchisee (Galveston County, Texas)

Helen Julian sued S.M. Watford Group LLC, doing business as Sonic Drive-In Restaurant, in the 122nd District Court of Galveston County (case number 13-CV-842). Her petition said that on May 11, 2012, at the Sonic in Santa Fe, Texas, a server handed her coffee “in a way that made the improperly placed lid pop off,” spilling it onto her lap and inner thighs. She alleged second- and third-degree burns with “painful and unsightly” scarring, and claimed the employee placed the lid incorrectly, that managers did not train workers properly, and that the coffee’s temperature was not properly maintained. She sought at least $100,000 (Southeast Texas Record).

The franchisee filed its answer on July 28, 2013. The parties then settled the case before a jury trial that had been set for that September, and the paper’s headline said the settlement came in mediation. The article did not report the terms (Southeast Texas Record). A settlement is not a finding that anyone was at fault.

A Louisiana ruling for Sonic: Colbert v. Sonic Restaurants

Gerald Colbert said he bought coffee at the drive-thru of a Sonic in Mansfield, Louisiana, on February 7, 2008, parked, and was burned when he took the lid off himself and the coffee spilled into his lap. He claimed second-degree burns to his groin, abdomen and thigh. According to the court’s opinion, the store manager measured the store’s coffee at 169 degrees the next day. In September 2010 the federal court in Shreveport granted summary judgment to Sonic and its insurer, finding the temperature “within the accepted industry range” and “not unreasonable” (Colbert v. Sonic Restaurants, 741 F. Supp. 2d 764 (W.D. La. 2010)).

Apart from these two cases, we found no reported customer burn lawsuit against Sonic in the court records and news sources we reviewed.

Sonic workers and fryer grease

Federal OSHA posts the severe injury reports employers must file when a work injury leads to hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The data covers only incidents under federal OSHA jurisdiction, so California and Washington, which run State Plans, are left out (OSHA Severe Injury Reports; OSHA State Plans). It lists one burn for an employer named Sonic Drive-In; a report filed under a franchisee’s own business name would not turn up in that search. On October 12, 2021, in Holton, Kansas, an employee was working at a frying station when “a vehicle struck the building from the outside,” overturning the fryer and covering the employee with hot grease. The worker was hospitalized with burns (OSHA data file, report 2021108795).

A 1993 CDC report found hot grease caused 14 of 28 burns among Minnesota teenagers hurt at fast-food jobs (CDC MMWR).

An injured worker usually starts with workers’ compensation. An outside party who caused the burn, like the driver in the Kansas report, can also be sued in all three states (Tex. Labor Code § 417.001; Cal. Labor Code § 3852; RCW 51.24.030), and a Texas employer that does not carry comp can be sued directly (Tex. Labor Code § 406.033). Our workplace burns page covers the rest of these rules.

Burn centers

In Washington, the UW Medicine Regional Burn Center at Harborview in Seattle is verified by the ABA (UW Medicine) and is the only Washington center verified in the ABA directory (ABA). For California and Texas, see our burn centers directory.

Children and fault rules

Related pages

Burn injury lawyer · Drive-thru burns · Whataburger burns · Dunkin’ burns · Workplace burns · Texas burn injury lawyer

Talk to a burn injury lawyer

Whether the spill happened in a parked stall, at the window or on the fryer line, call Beverly Law at (310) 552-6959. The review is free and confidential, and we speak English and Spanish. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. You owe no fees or costs unless we win.

Common questions

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Burn Injury Lawyer

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 6, 2026.