Philz Coffee Burn Injury Lawsuits: California Coffee and Tea 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 Philz Coffee.

What to do after a Philz Coffee burn

1. Cool the burn. 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 calls for burn center consultation for any full-thickness burn, partial-thickness burns of 10% or more of the body, and deep burns of the face, hands, feet, genitals, perineum or over any joint (ABA referral guidelines); nearby centers are listed below.
3. Keep the cup, lid, sleeve and any carrier in a bag, without handing them to staff.
4. Keep your receipt or app order showing the store, the drink and the time.
5. Write down the name of the barista or window worker and of any witnesses.
6. Photograph the burn each day, the wet clothing, and the counter, walkway or drive-thru lane.
7. Have a lawyer send a written request within days asking the operator to keep the store’s video. See our preservation letter and after-a-burn checklist.

Philz Coffee at a glance

Philz says Phil Jaber opened a convenience store in San Francisco’s Mission District in 1978 and spent 25 years experimenting with coffee blends before the first Philz Coffee shop opened in the Mission on January 1, 2003. The company says its coffee is roasted at its facility in Oakland (Philz Coffee, Our Story).

In August 2025, the private equity firm Freeman Spogli announced a definitive agreement to acquire Philz, with the deal expected to close August 6, 2025, and terms not disclosed. Its announcement described Philz as 77 cafes across California and Chicago, founded in 2003 by Phil Jaber and his son Jacob (Freeman Spogli). Restaurant Dive reported the sale on August 4, 2025, and called Philz a 77-unit chain (Restaurant Dive).

When we checked the Philz store locator on November 5, 2026, it listed 82 California stores, 6 stores in the Chicago area and a coffee truck at 500 Marina Blvd., listed under San Francisco. It listed no stores in Texas or Washington (Philz locations).

What Philz serves hot

The Philz menu lists its coffee blends alongside matcha, tea and a hot chocolate, in 12-, 16- and 20-ounce sizes, plus hot breakfast and lunch items, under the line “Made Just How You Like It” (Philz menu). Freeman Spogli’s announcement says Philz coffee is “handcrafted one cup at a time” (Freeman Spogli), and its Brea Mall store page describes “handcrafted pour-over, cold brew, or tea” (Philz Brea Mall).

The Pleasanton store on Santa Rita Road has a drive-thru. Philz calls it “the first drive-thru Philz in Northern California” (Philz Pleasanton).

We found no Philz serving temperature in any source we reviewed, and we make no claim about how hot any Philz drink is. For context, a 2019 review in the Journal of Food Science lists coffee as typically poured into the cup at 186°F to 191°F and tea water at 191°F to 196°F (Abraham and Diller, 2019).

How a burn can happen with a made-to-order cup

These are fact patterns that come up in coffee shop burn claims generally. They are not reports about any Philz store.

The cup is filled and lidded by staff. When a barista prepares a drink to the customer’s taste and presses the lid on, how well that lid was seated is part of the store’s handling. A lid that lifts at one edge can let go when the customer squeezes the cup.

Pick-up at a crowded bar. Cafes in malls, office towers and near arenas can have several drinks waiting at once. A cup knocked over at the hand-off counter, or a drink handed to the wrong person, can scald someone standing nearby.

The drive-thru window. At a window, the cup passes between two people at different heights, often with a carrier. Our drive-thru burns page covers lid and carrier failures in detail.

Contact time. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says most adults suffer third-degree burns from 150°F water in 2 seconds, and that burns also occur after 6 seconds at 140°F or 30 seconds at 130°F (CPSC). Hot liquid soaked into clothing can stay against the skin, which lengthens the contact.

Who the claim is against

The first defendant is usually the business that operates the store where the drink was made, because its staff filled, lidded and handed over the cup. In a shopping mall, the company that controls the common area can also matter if a spill happened in a walkway or a wet floor was involved. If a cup, lid or carrier was defective, California holds the manufacturer strictly liable for injuries the defect causes (Greenman v. Yuba Power Products). If a city, county or other public entity shares the blame, a six-month government claim deadline applies to that part of the case.

California claim and fault rules

Under pure comparative fault, an argument that you squeezed the cup or took the lid off can lower an award but cannot erase it.

Burn centers near Philz regions

The American Burn Association lists these ABA-verified burn centers in the parts of California where Philz has stores (ABA directory):

See our burn center directory for the full list.

If you were burned outside California

Philz’s Chicago-area stores are in Illinois, where different rules apply and you should speak with a lawyer licensed there. Beverly Law handles burn cases in California, Texas and Washington. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou.

Related pages

Burn injury lawyer · Drive-thru burns · Peet’s Coffee burns · Starbucks burns · Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf burns · Hot beverage temperatures · California burn injury lawyer

Talk to a burn injury lawyer

If a drink from Philz or another California coffee shop burned you or your child, call Beverly Law at (310) 552-6959 for a free, confidential review 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.