Florida family awarded $800K after McDonald's Chicken McNugget burned 4-year-old girl
Olivia Caraballo was 4 years old when she suffered 2nd-degree burns in 2019
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A Florida family was awarded $800,000 in damages after a girl was left with second-degree burns outside a McDonald's in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale, when a McDonald's Chicken McNugget fell on her leg when her mother pulled away from a drive-thru.
Olivia Caraballo was 4 years old when she was burned in 2019, and jurors reached a verdict Wednesday to award her family $400,000 in damages for the past four years and another $400,000 for the future from the McDonald's USA and its franchise operator, Upchurch Foods, the South Florida SunSentinel reported.
The verdict came after a separate jury decided in May that the company and franchise owner were liable for the injury.
Olivia's mother, Philana Holmes, told reporters outside the courtroom that she thought the jury reached a "fair judgment."
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Philana Holmes, right, hugs her attorney, Keyla Smith, after a jury awarded her $800,000 on behalf of her daughter Olivia Caraballo, now 8, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Wednesday, July 19, 2023. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP / AP Newsroom)
"I’m actually just happy that they listened to Olivia’s voice and the jury was able to decide a fair judgment," Holmes said. "I’m happy with that. I honestly had no expectations, so this is more than fair for me."
Holmes testified Tuesday that Olivia, now 8, calls the scar on her inner thigh her "nugget" and plans to have it removed, the newspaper reported. The family sought $15 million in damages.
During her testimony, she explained that she had purchased Happy Meals for her son and daughter, who were sitting in the back seat when the incident took place. She said she heard her daughter scream in pain, promptly pulled over in a parking lot and found the nugget lodged between Oliva's thigh and the seat belt.
Surveillance video of Philana Holmes reaching for two Happy Meals in the drive-thru at McDonald's is shown on a courtroom monitor during closing arguments at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP / AP Newsroom)
She also shared photos of the burn and played sound clips of the child's screams in court.
The mother also testified that at no point did McDonald's warn her about the food’s temperature. Defense attorneys for McDonald's argued the child's wound healed after about three weeks and suffered no further discomfort so $156,000 should cover damages, both past and future. They also contended that the girl's mother was bothered by the scar.
"She’s still going to McDonald's, she still asks to go to McDonald’s, she’s still driving through the drive-thru with her mom, getting chicken nuggets," defense attorney Jennifer Miller said in her closing argument Wednesday. "She’s not bothered by the injury. This is all the mom."
Melina Hipskind, from McDonald's USA, stands at the defense table as a verdict awarding Philana Holmes and Humberto Caraballo Estevez $800,000 on behalf of their daughter Olivia Caraballo, now 8, is read at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Laude … (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP / AP Newsroom)
The company testified they followed food safety rules, requiring McNuggets to be hot enough to avoid salmonella poisoning and that their use outside the restaurant was no longer under their control.
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Both sides agreed during the trial in May that the nugget caused the burns but disputed its temperature.
The jurors reached the verdict after debating for less than two hours.
Olivia Caraballo, 8, and her mother, Philana Holmes, are shown in the courtroom gallery after the jury began deliberations at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP / AP Newsroom)
The case drew similarities to a separate incident in New Mexico when a jury awarded Stella Liebeck, 81, $2.7 million in punitive damages after she was burned by McDonald’s coffee in 1992. She suffered third-degree burns and spent more than a week in the hospital.
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The case went to trial, where a judge later reduced the $2.7 million award to $480,000, which he said was appropriate for McDonald’s "willful, wanton, reckless" and "callous" behavior.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.