Dunkin' Burn Injury Lawsuits: the $3 Million Drive-Thru Settlement, Cup Carrier Claims, and How to Sue (Updated November 2026)

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

Beverly Law is not affiliated with Dunkin’.

What to do after a Dunkin’ burn

1. Cool the burn. For a minor burn with unbroken skin, MedlinePlus says to run cool water, not ice water, over it for at least 5 to 30 minutes, and not to remove clothing stuck to the skin. Call 911 if the burn is about the size of your palm or larger (MedlinePlus).
2. Get burn center care for a deep burn. A cup that tips into the lap tends to burn the thighs and groin. The American Burn Association’s referral guidelines call for burn center consultation when a deep burn involves the genitals or perineum, and for any full-thickness burn or partial-thickness burns covering 10% or more of the body (ABA referral guidelines).
3. Keep the carrier, cup and lid together. Photograph the empty slot the cup fell from, and do not hand them to store staff.
4. Keep the receipt or app order showing the store and time, and write down the names of the person at the window and any witnesses.
5. Photograph the burn daily for two weeks, with a coin or ruler for scale.
6. Ask for the store video in writing within days, sent to the franchisee and naming the date, time and lane. Use our evidence preservation letter and the after-a-burn checklist.

Who you would be suing

In its annual report for fiscal 2019, Dunkin’ Brands Group said, “We believe that our 100% franchised business model offers strategic and financial benefits,” and counted 9,630 Dunkin’ points of distribution in the U.S. out of 13,137 worldwide (Dunkin’ Brands Form 10-K). Inspire Brands completed its $11.3 billion purchase of Dunkin’ Brands on December 15, 2020 (Inspire Brands).

The Georgia settlement was agreed to by Golden Donuts, LLC, the franchisee that operates the store, and the Pennsylvania case named the franchisee, Pemma Inc., along with Dunkin’ entities. The operating company holds the video, the training records and the incident report.

Whether the Dunkin’ brand also answers depends on the control it kept over the store. In Patterson v. Domino’s Pizza, a harassment case at a franchised pizza store, the California Supreme Court said a franchisor is liable only if it retained or assumed a general right of control over the franchisee’s employees, such as hiring, supervision, discipline and day-to-day workplace behavior (Patterson v. Domino’s Pizza, 2014). For a lid or carrier failure, the question is who set and enforced those procedures.

How Dunkin’ burns happen

The lid comes off as the customer reaches. That is what the Georgia plaintiff’s attorneys described at a drive-thru window (Fortune).

A cup falls out of the carrier. In the New Jersey case, the extra-large cup in a three-cup tray “just fell forward” and the others followed it into the plaintiff’s lap (CBS New York). Her lawyer said all the industry has to do is “have a holder that has higher sides and is more secure.”

The lid lets go later. In the Pennsylvania case the lid came off after the customer had driven home and parked, and the defense blamed how he lifted the cup.

Temperature. We found no Dunkin’ statement of its serving temperature in the sources we reviewed. Research published in the journal Burns reports that hot drinks are frequently served at temperatures as high as 185°F (Brown and Diller, 2008). The American Burn Association’s scald table, based on the Moritz and Henriques studies of adult skin, shows how short the contact needs to be (ABA scald guide):

Reported cases involving Dunkin’

Georgia drive-thru settlement against Golden Donuts, LLC (reported October 2023). According to her attorneys, a 70-year-old woman was burned at a Dunkin’ drive-thru in Sugar Hill, Georgia, on February 18, 2021, when the lid came off her coffee as she reached for it. They said she had second- and third-degree burns to her thighs, groin and abdomen, spent weeks in the burn unit at Grady Health, needed skin grafts, had to relearn how to walk and ran up more than $200,000 in medical bills. The franchisee agreed to pay $3 million. (Fortune; Fox Business).

Samantha Picklo’s suit against Dunkin’ (Delran, New Jersey, reported May 2022). Samantha Picklo says she suffered second- and third-degree burns on her legs at a Delran Dunkin’ when a worker brought her three coffees in a tray and the cups toppled onto her, and she spent three days at the Jefferson Burn Center. Her attorney said the suit focuses on the cup tray. In a court filing, the store’s attorneys denied negligence and said her injuries were partly due to her own negligence; Dunkin’s corporate office refused to comment (CBS Philadelphia). We found no reported outcome.

Haslip v. Dunkin’ Brands Group (Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, Pennsylvania, defense verdict reported August 2018). John Haslip bought a 24-ounce coffee at a drive-through in Worcester on November 15, 2016. He said the lid came off when he lifted the cup after getting home, causing second-degree burns and permanent scarring on his inner thigh. The suit named Dunkin’ Brands Group and the franchisee, Pemma Inc. The defense did not dispute the injury but argued the lid was secured and that lifting a cup that size from the top can pop the lid. The jury returned a verdict for the defense on July 25, 2018 (The Legal Intelligencer).

Cup carrier and lid claims

When a carrier flexes and drops cups, or a lid separates under normal handling, the maker of that packaging can be a defendant alongside the store. In California, a manufacturer is strictly liable when a defective product injures someone using it as intended (Greenman v. Yuba Power Products). In Texas, a design defect claim requires proof of a safer alternative design that was economically and technologically feasible and would have prevented or significantly reduced the risk (CPRC § 82.005). A carrier with higher sides, the kind Picklo’s lawyer described, is the type of alternative that statute asks about. Washington’s Product Liability Act covers design and warning claims against manufacturers (RCW 7.72.030). Our page on defective product burns explains these claims in more detail.

Deadlines and fault rules

In a case like Haslip, where the defense blames the customer, a finding above 50% ends the claim in Texas. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou.

Related pages

Burn injury lawyer · Scald burns · Drive-thru burns · McDonald’s burns · 7-Eleven burns · Defective product burns

Talk to a burn injury lawyer

If a Dunkin’ coffee spilled on you or your child, call Beverly Law at (310) 552-6959. The review is free and confidential, in English or Spanish. You owe no fees or costs unless we win.

Common questions

Related pages

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.