Starbucks Burn Injury Lawsuits: Claims, the $50 Million Verdict, and How to Sue (Updated November 2026)

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

Beverly Law is not affiliated with Starbucks.

What to do after a Starbucks 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 pull off clothing stuck to the skin. Call 911 if the burn is about the size of your palm or larger (MedlinePlus).
2. Go to a burn center for a deep burn. The American Burn Association recommends burn center consultation for any full-thickness burn, partial-thickness burns of 10 percent or more of the body, and deep burns of the face, hands, genitals or feet (ABA referral guidelines).
3. Keep the cup, lid, sleeve and carrier, bagged and unwashed.
4. Save the app order or receipt with the store and time, and write down the names of witnesses and the employee at the window or pickup counter.
5. Photograph the burn every day for two weeks.
6. Ask for the store video in writing within days. In Felder v. MGM National Harbor (D. Md. 2024), a routine 14-day overwrite was not spoliation because notice came too late. At a licensed store, send the request to the licensee and to Starbucks. Use our evidence preservation letter and the after-a-burn checklist.

Starbucks by the numbers

Starbucks’ annual report for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2025 lists 10,047 company-operated and 6,813 licensed stores in the United States. Beverages were 73 percent of company-operated store sales. Franchising is used only in some international markets, so a U.S. store is run by Starbucks or by a licensee whose employees must follow Starbucks’ “detailed store operating procedures.” A burn at a licensed store may involve both.

How Starbucks burns happen

The drive-thru handoff. Most of the cases below involve a drive-thru order. In Garcia, the driver’s lawyer said one of three venti teas was not fully pushed into the carrier. Other chains are covered on drive-thru burns.

Lids. Some suits allege the lid was not secured (Sanchez Avendano, Walker); a 2025 North Carolina suit attacks the lid design. See Starbucks drive-thru lid burns.

Tea and hot water. Garcia’s “medicine ball” teas, Piluyev’s Honey Citrus Mint Tea and the cup of hot water in Cha all led to burn unit care or skin grafts. See Starbucks tea and hot water burns.

Children. In 2011 a 13-month-old in Stuart, Florida was burned over 18 percent of her body when a large coffee and a large tea spilled as an adult put her in a high chair attached to the table; NBC Miami reported that police found it was an accident. See child burns at Starbucks.

What Starbucks has said about hot drinks

Starbucks has not published a serving temperature in any source we reviewed. In 2015 its large coffee cup carried the printed warning “Careful the beverage you’re about to enjoy is extremely hot,” according to the Eleventh Circuit’s opinion in Erchul.

The company has said its drinks are “brewed to industry standard and provided with secure lids” (Cha, 2019) and that it has “always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks” (Garcia, 2025).

Evans’s lawyers estimated her coffee at 190°F, and UPI described Mogavero’s drink as a “190-degree beverage.” The American Burn Association says hot beverages are usually served at 160 to 180°F and that at 140°F a serious burn takes five seconds or less. Burn times by temperature are on how hot is Starbucks coffee.

Reported Starbucks burn cases, 2007 to 2026

“Not reported” means our sources do not say how the case ended. A complaint is one side’s account until a jury or judge decides it.

The California cases

Garcia v. Starbucks Corp., Los Angeles Superior Court No. 20STCV10214. On February 8, 2020, a tea spilled into delivery driver Michael Garcia’s lap at the Exposition Park drive-thru, causing third-degree burns, nerve damage and permanent genital injury; he had skin grafts. In March 2025 the jury found Starbucks 100 percent liable and awarded $50 million; punitive damages were not sought. On June 4, 2025, Judge Frederick Shaller denied Starbucks’ motions for a new trial and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Starbucks said it would appeal, 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.

Other California suits. Tommy Piluyev spent 11 days in the UC Davis burn unit after a 2018 Roseville spill; Starbucks told TODAY its investigation found the handoff was successful. Leota Walker’s Riverside County suit claims 25 days in the hospital and multiple graft surgeries, the Daily Journal reported.

The “80 complaints a month” figure

Mogavero’s lawyer told the Florida Times-Union that Starbucks acknowledged about 80 complaints a month about leaks and lids popping off. The Erchul opinion says a Starbucks deposition in another case put it at “two complaints per million beverages sold,” and the court noted these were general cup and lid complaints.

Liability and deadlines

A store owes ordinary care when it hands over a hot drink (Cal. Civ. Code § 1714). When the lid or cup fails, its maker can face a product claim: strict liability in California (Greenman v. Yuba Power Products), Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 82, and Washington’s RCW 7.72. California (Li v. Yellow Cab) and Washington (RCW 4.22.005) reduce an award by the injured person’s share of fault; Texas bars recovery above 50 percent (CPRC § 33.001).

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

Starbucks burn injuries by city

Los Angeles · Orange County · Riverside · San Bernardino · Fresno · Bakersfield · Houston · Dallas · San Antonio · Seattle · Tacoma · Spokane

Related pages

Burn injury lawyer · Scald burns · Peet’s · Dunkin’ · McDonald’s hot coffee case

Talk to a burn injury lawyer

Beverly Law handles coffee and tea burn cases in California and Washington. Consultations are free. You owe no fees or costs unless we win. Call (310) 552-6959.

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.