It’s been 30 years since a jury awarded a woman $3 million when she was severely burned by McDonald’s hot coffee. Now, Dunkin’ is facing a lawsuit after a New Jersey woman ended up on a stretcher when she was scalded by coffee at the drive-thru.
Samantha Picklo sustained burns over 30% of her body from the incident.
“Her legs are all burned up. There’s skin coming completely off her legs from the degree of the burns,” Picklo’s husband says in police bodycam footage.
It happened when Picklo ordered three black coffees to go at a store in Delran. An employee came outside to hand her a tray holding the coffees through the window of the car.
“Before I could even get the cup carrier from his hands, it just was falling forward. The shock was unbelievable,” Picklo told Inside Edition.
Picklo said her pants absorbed the spilled coffee and were making the burns worse, so she ripped them off, then called 911.
Cops headed inside to question the man who served the coffee. He claimed Picklo was eating something, grabbed the coffee with one hand and spilled the coffee herself.
“She moved her coffee to the other seat, and suddenly the coffee fell down on her legs,” the employee said.
“Did the coffee spill when you handed it to her?” an officer asked.
“No,” the employee said.
So, how hot is the coffee served at Dunkin’? Inside Edition tested a few, and one reached 169 degrees.
Picklo has filed a lawsuit. She wants the company to change the kind of trays they use to ones with taller sides and a handle on top.
“If this [type of tray] had been used, Samantha would not have been horribly burned,” her lawyer Paul D’Amato says.
Dunkin’ told Inside Edition they don’t comment on pending legal matters.