Dutch Bros Burn Injury Lawsuits: Drive-Thru and Runner Spills, Your Rights, and How to Sue (Updated November 2026)

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

Beverly Law is not affiliated with Dutch Bros.

What to do after a Dutch Bros burn

1. Cool the burn once you are out of the lane. For a minor burn with unbroken skin, run cool water, not ice water, over it for at least 5 to 30 minutes, and do not pull off clothing stuck to the skin (MedlinePlus).
2. Get emergency care for a serious burn. MedlinePlus says to call 911 for a burn about the size of your palm or larger, a full-thickness burn, or when you are unsure. The American Burn Association recommends burn center consultation for deep burns of the genitals, perineum, hands or feet and for any full-thickness burn (ABA referral guidelines).
3. Write down where the drink changed hands: the drive-thru window, the walk-up window, or a runner in the lane. The runner is still a shop employee, but a lane handoff may be far from the window camera.
4. Keep the cup, lid, sleeve and any carrier in a bag, without washing them.
5. Save the app order or receipt showing the shop and the time.
6. Photograph the burn every day for the first two weeks, with a ruler or coin for scale, along with the wet clothing and the car seat, and write down the names of witnesses and the employee if you know them.
7. Have a lawyer send a preservation request for video from every camera to Dutch Bros or the franchise owner, naming the date, time and lane. See our preservation letter and after-a-burn checklist.

Dutch Bros shops in California, Texas and Washington

Dutch Bros was founded in 1992 by brothers Dane and Travis Boersma with an espresso machine and a pushcart in Grants Pass, Oregon. Its headquarters are now in Tempe, Arizona. Its annual report for 2025, filed with the SEC in February 2026, counts shops in 25 states, and Texas and California have the most of them (Dutch Bros Form 10-K; Shops by State chart):

The company roasts coffee in Melissa, Texas, at a plant it opened in 2024, and the 10-K says that since 2017 its strategy has centered on company-operated shops, with all operators recruited from inside the company.

Hot drinks on the Dutch Bros menu

The 10-K describes “a wide range of customizable hot, iced, and blended beverages, as well as certain food offerings.” Coffee drinks made up about half of 2025 sales. Teas, lemonades, smoothies and sodas account for about a quarter of sales. The filing says Dutch Bros began testing hot food in a limited number of shops and plans to expand its food offering in 2026. The online menu lists separate “Hot Coffee” and “Hot Cocoa & Hot Tea” categories (Dutch Bros menu).

We did not find a Dutch Bros statement of its serving temperature in the sources we reviewed. The American Burn Association’s table, drawn from the Moritz and Henriques studies on adult skin, gives these times to a third-degree burn (ABA scald guide):

Where the handoff happens at a Dutch Bros

Dutch Bros says about 85% of its business goes through the drive-thru and the other 15% through walk-up windows, and most shops have no lobby or seating. When a shop is busy, a “runner” broista walks out to the line, takes orders on a tablet and, at many shops, brings the finished drink to the car so the customer can leave through an “escape lane” before reaching the window. Customers who order ahead in the app pick up at the walk-up window or in the drive-thru (Dutch Bros Form 10-K).

At another chain, a delivery driver alleged that a Starbucks drive-through worker did not wedge a venti hot tea firmly enough into a takeout tray and that it spilled on him on Feb. 8, 2020 (AP via Claims Journal); a Los Angeles jury awarded him $50 million on March 14, 2025. Starbucks said it would appeal (ABC7), but the case settled in June 2025 and was dismissed in July 2025; the terms were not made public (LASC case summary). See Garcia v. Starbucks.

Reported incidents involving Dutch Bros

We found no reported lawsuit by a customer burned by a Dutch Bros drink in the court records and news coverage we reviewed. The company’s 10-K says only that it is a party to routine legal actions that “principally arise from alleged casualty, employment, and other disputes.”

One reported incident involved a worker. On Oct. 14, 2026, at a Dutch Bros near Cedar and Clinton avenues in Central Fresno, a woman argued with an employee at the walk-up window over a wrong drink and then “threw a hot cup of coffee onto the employee,” ABC30 reported. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office was looking for her as a battery suspect. The report did not say whether the employee was injured (ABC30).

A worker burned on the job generally has a workers’ compensation claim and can also sue a third party who caused the injury, such as a customer who threw a drink. California keeps that claim alive (Labor Code § 3852), as do Texas (Labor Code § 417.001) and Washington (RCW 51.24.030). In Texas, workers’ comp is the exclusive remedy against an employer that carries comp coverage (Labor Code § 408.001). A worker can sue a Texas employer without that coverage (a nonsubscriber) for negligence, and the employer cannot argue the worker was partly at fault (Labor Code § 406.033).

Who answers for a burn at a Dutch Bros

At a company-operated shop, the crew works for Dutch Bros, so Dutch Bros is the company to name. At one of the 325 franchise shops, the franchise company that employs the crew is usually the main defendant. In California, a franchisor answers for the conduct of a franchisee’s workers only when it kept or took on a general right of control over matters like hiring, supervision, discipline and day-to-day workplace behavior (Patterson v. Domino’s Pizza).

When a cup, lid or carrier fails, the company that made it can be added. California applies strict liability to a manufacturer whose defective product injures someone (Greenman v. Yuba Power Products). A Texas design claim needs proof of a safer alternative design that was economically and technologically feasible (CPRC § 82.005), and Washington’s product liability statute covers design and warning claims (RCW 7.72.030).

Children and shared fault

Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou.

Related pages

Burn injury lawyer · Drive-thru burns · Starbucks burns · Garcia v. Starbucks · Dunkin’ burns · Scooter’s Coffee burns · Scald burns

Talk to a burn injury lawyer

If you were burned at a Dutch Bros window or by a drink a runner brought to your car, write down where the handoff happened, hold on to the cup and the app order, and call Beverly Law at (310) 552-6959. We review your case for free, in English or 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

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.