EAST ORANGE, N.J. (1010 WINS) — A New Jersey couple are the latest to sue the fast food café chain Dunkin’ for severe burns resulting from hot drinks that were brewed at a dangerously high temperature.
MacDalie Jean-Baptiste and her husband Dale Blackwood, both 46, sued after Jean-Baptiste suffered severe burns when hot tea was spilled in her lap at an East Orange storefront.
The couple brought three cups of tea on Sept. 25, 2022, and, when a worker failed to properly secure the lid of one of the cups, the tea spilled in Jean-Baptiste’s lap, according to the suit.
Jean-Baptiste needed medical treatment for the burns and was unable to carry about her regular activities, court documents indicate.
The Essex County lawsuit is the latest in a string of litigation against the chain from customers who suffered severe burns at New Jersey Dunkin’ locations.
Other suits filed over the course of the last year tell similar stories about Dunkin’ drive-throughs in Lyndhurst, Totowa, Delran, Bayonne and more.
There’s precedent for consumers to be compensated for serious hot drink burns, even in cases where they spilled on themselves.
A similar lawsuit was mocked during a corporate campaign to limit the ability of private citizens to sue corporations in the 90s.
Stella Liebeck was pilloried in the press and became the poster child for frivolous lawsuits after winning $2.7 million from McDonalds in 1992 after spilling hot coffee on herself.
The detail absent from the initial telling of the story is that she suffered third degree burns because McDonalds was brewing its coffee at dangerously hot temperatures as a time-saving measure.
Not only did Liebeck get compensated for the serious injuries she suffered, but McDonalds was also forced to brew coffee at temperatures safe for human consumption.
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