McDonald's Liable After Hot Chicken Nuggets Burn FL Girl: Lawsuit

BROWARD COUNTY, FL — A Broward County jury on Thursday found fast-food giant McDonald's liable after hot chicken nuggets fell in a little girl's lap, causing severe burns to her thigh, according to court documents and a report.

The jury's decision came after two days of testimony in the lawsuit filed by the girl's parents, Philana Holmes and Humberto Estevez, against McDonald's Corp. and franchise operator Upchurch Foods, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

A second jury must now decide how much both companies will be ordered to pay, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

According to the lawsuit, Holmes took her son and then-4-year-old daughter to a Tamarac McDonald's on Aug. 21, 2019. Holmes went through the restaurant's drive-thru and ordered her daughter a Happy Meal with chicken nuggets.

During the trial, Holmes said she handed the food to her daughter in the back seat and drove away, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Moments later, a piece of chicken fell on the little girl's leg, causing her to scream.

According to court documents, the chicken nuggets — described as "unreasonably and dangerously" hot — burned the little girl's leg, leaving her "disfigured and scarred."

The lawsuit claims McDonald's was negligent and should have known the nuggets were hot. The lawsuit also stated McDonald's had a duty not to give them to Holmes and her daughter if they were harmful or unfit for consumption.

Holmes is seeking at least $15,000 in damages, according to the lawsuit.