By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.
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The Wildomar lid case
The one Riverside County Starbucks burn case in our sources is recent. In June 2026, Leota Walker was burned at the drive-thru of a Starbucks in Wildomar when, she says, the lid popped off her coffee. ABC7 reported second-degree burns and several weeks in the hospital. According to the Daily Journal, her suit in Riverside County Superior Court alleges a defective cup with an improperly secured lid and says she spent 25 days in the hospital and had multiple skin graft surgeries. The complaint points to complaints about lids posted online. Starbucks declined to comment.
None of that has been decided. As of the July 31, 2026 reports, Walker was a pending lawsuit, and every fact above is her account.
Her theory has two parts. A secured-lid claim is about how the store handled the drink. A defective-cup claim is about the product itself, and in California a maker can be strictly liable when a product it sells has a defect that injures someone. In a 2020 suit over a lid that came off during a Roseville drive-thru handoff, the injured man sued both Starbucks and Pactiv, the cup and lid supplier, on negligence and product liability theories. Our Starbucks drive-thru lid burns page collects the other lid suits.
Drive-thru spill trials elsewhere have gone both ways
| Case | Where | Result reported |
|---|---|---|
| Mogavero (2014 burn) | Jacksonville, Fla. | Jury found Starbucks 80% at fault, $100,000 |
| Erchul (2015 burn) | Brunswick, Ga. | Verdict for Starbucks, affirmed on appeal |
| Garcia (2020 burn) | Los Angeles | Jury awarded $50 million in 2025; Starbucks said it would appeal, but the case settled in June 2025 (terms not public) and was dismissed in July 2025 (LASC) |
Garcia’s central claim was that a tea was not wedged firmly into the carrier; see Garcia v. Starbucks. The national list is on our Starbucks burn injury page; burn degrees and grafts are in our burn injury lawyer guide.
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Filing in Riverside after August 1, 2026
Civil cases are handled at the Riverside Historic Courthouse, 4050 Main Street, downtown. Starting August 1, 2026, the court began filing unlimited civil cases from Lake Elsinore, Hemet, Winchester, Homeland, Wildomar and Murrieta at the Historic Courthouse too. A serious burn suit is an unlimited civil case, so a new Starbucks case from a store in one of those communities is now filed downtown.
No burn center in the county
No Riverside County hospital appears on the American Burn Association’s burn center list, so a serious burn may mean a transfer out of the county.
| Hospital | City | Role |
|---|---|---|
| HCA Riverside Community Hospital | Riverside | Level I trauma center |
| Riverside University Health System Medical Center | Moreno Valley | Level I trauma center, with a pediatric trauma designation |
| Edward G. Hirschman Burn Center, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center | Colton | Listed by the ABA as another burn center; designated locally for adults; serves Riverside County |
| UCI Health Regional Burn Center | Orange | ABA-verified, adults and children |
| Los Angeles General Medical Center Regional Burn Center | Los Angeles | ABA-verified, adults and children |
If you were seen in Riverside or Moreno Valley and then moved to Colton or Orange, we ask both hospitals for records, since the transfer notes show how deep the burn was on arrival. More on local hospitals is on our Riverside burn injury page.
How to preserve a lid that came off
The lid is usually the most important object in a case like Walker’s, and also the easiest to lose.
- Do not snap it back onto the cup. Pressing it on again can change the rim you are trying to prove was faulty.
- Store the lid in a small box or hard container so it is not crushed, and keep the cup separately.
- Photograph both from several angles, along with the sleeve and any sticker showing drink size and order time.
- Keep the app receipt and write down the window, the time and whether the employee pressed the lid down.
- Ask a lawyer to send a video preservation letter to the store that week.
California law for a Riverside County Starbucks burn
| Rule | Source | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline | CCP § 335.1 | Two years from the burn |
| Your own fault | Li v. Yellow Cab Co. | Reduces the award by your percentage; never a bar |
| Defective cup or lid | Greenman v. Yuba Power Products | The maker can be strictly liable for a defect |
| Store on public property, such as a county building or a public college campus, with the public owner named | Gov. Code § 911.2 | File a written claim with the public owner within six months |
Riverside Starbucks burn questions
Did Walker win her case against Starbucks?
No outcome had been reported as of the July 2026 coverage. Her claims are allegations until a judge or jury decides them.
I was burned at a Starbucks in Murrieta. Which courthouse?
Under the court’s August 1, 2026 change, unlimited civil cases from Murrieta are filed at the Riverside Historic Courthouse at 4050 Main Street.
Can I sue whoever made the lid?
Possibly. If the lid or cup was defective, the manufacturer can face a strict liability claim in California, alongside any claim against the store.
Where will a serious burn from Riverside be treated?
Care may start at a Level I trauma center in Riverside or Moreno Valley and continue at the Arrowhead burn center in Colton or an ABA-verified center such as UCI Health in Orange.
Talk to a lawyer about a Riverside Starbucks burn
Beverly Law takes burn cases from across Riverside County, from Moreno Valley to Temecula. Call (310) 552-6959 in English or Spanish. You owe no fees or costs unless we win.
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Burn injury lawyer — Beverly Law
If you or your child was burned because of someone else in California, Texas and Washington, talk to a burn injury attorney. Free, confidential, English or Spanish. You owe no fees or costs unless we win.
Related pages
Sources
- ABC7 Los Angeles, Walker v. Starbucks, Wildomar store, lid popped off, second-degree burns, several weeks in hospital, c (abc7.com)
- Daily Journal, Walker: defective cup with improperly secured lid, 25 days hospitalized, multiple skin graft surgeries, R (dailyjournal.com)
- KPRC (Click2Houston), Piluyev v. Starbucks and Pactiv, negligence and product liability (Sept. 21, 2020) (click2houston.com)
- ABA Journal, Mogavero v. Starbucks, 80% fault verdict (May 22, 2017) (abajournal.com)
- Erchul v. Starbucks Corp., No. 17-14068 (11th Cir. Sept. 19, 2018) (media.ca11.uscourts.gov)
- AP via Claims Journal, Garcia $50 million verdict, Starbucks planned to appeal (March 17, 2025) (amp.claimsjournal.com)
- Riverside Superior Court, Riverside Historic Courthouse (riverside.courts.ca.gov)
- Riverside Superior Court, civil filing location adjustments effective Aug. 1, 2026 (riverside.courts.ca.gov)
- American Burn Association, Find a Burn Center (ameriburn.org)
- California EMSA, ABA-verified and LEMSA-designated burn centers (Dec. 2, 2025) (emsa.ca.gov)
- Arrowhead Regional Medical Center fact sheet (burn center serves Inyo, San Bernardino, Riverside and Mono counties) (arrowheadregional.org)
- Riverside County EMS Agency, trauma program (rivcoems.org)
- California EMSA, trauma centers (Aug. 2025) (emsa.ca.gov)
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
- Cal. Gov. Code § 911.2 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
- Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 13 Cal.3d 804 (1975) (scocal.stanford.edu)
- Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, 59 Cal.2d 57 (1963) (scocal.stanford.edu)
- Los Angeles Superior Court, case summary for Garcia v. Starbucks, No. 20STCV10214 (post-trial motions denied June 4, 202 (cap.lacourt.ca.gov)
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.