Posted on 05/23/2014 12:58:58 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A University of California at Berkeley graduate sued the fast food chain In-N-Out Burger Thursday over injuries suffered when she was badly burned by a spilled cup of hot coffee last year and an employee allegedly refused to call for an ambulance.
The lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court by Hedy Chen is based on legal claims of negligence and failure to come to her aid.
Chen, who graduated from UC last year, says in the lawsuit that the incident happened when she and a friend stopped an In-N-Out drive-through restaurant in Oakland on April 1, 2013.
The lawsuit says she ordered a cup of coffee and that an employee handed her an "excessively hot" beverage in a paper cup without a protective sleeve. The cup was so hot that Chen could not hold it and she dropped it onto her abdomen and thighs, which caused her to suffer excruciating pain, the lawsuit alleges.
The suit alleges she asked the employee to call 911, but the worker refused, purportedly saying that she was forbidden to do so because it was against company policy to call 911.
Police Looking For Shotgun Bandit with Mohawk Haircut Chen claims the employee then gave her a bag of ice, which, according to the lawsuit, is a poor treatment for burns and can exacerbate scarring.
Chen sustained first- and second-degree burns, spent three days in a hospital and has permanent scars, according to the lawsuit.
"It's amazing that they would refuse to call 911, and then give her ice treatment which makes it worse," Chen's lawyer, Kirk Boyd, said in a statement.
The lawsuit asks for financial compensation for the injuries in an amount to be determined by a jury.
Woman in Coma Gives Birth to Healthy Baby Boy Arnie Wensinger, an executive vice president for the Irvine-based In-N-Out Burgers declined to comment on the lawsuit, but noted that "all In-N-Out Burger Associates are authorized to assist our customers and to call 911 in emergency situations."
In-N-Out operates in California and the southwestern United States.
I didn’t know In’n’Out served torts.
There are at least a couple of ways to hold a cup of coffee in a disposable cup to minimize contact with the hot water.
But, if you pick it up by wrapping your hand/fingers around the body of the cup, it will be too hot. And if someone handed her the cup, it's likely how she accepted it.
Also, some people are just more sensitive to heat than others.
I didn’t know American law applied in Oakland.
I expected to read that the idjit turned the cup over to see the Bible reference...
“I didn’t know In’n’Out served torts.”
They don’t. They served a “Tart” who in turn filed a tort.
Google the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit burns.
Ice is fine for burns. They should NEVER have taken In’n’Out Burgers to northern California. They do not deserve our FINE food from down here - they already think we are lower forms of life, even tho most of the tax money in the state comes from So Cal.
STUPID STUPID GIRL. Don’t pour coffee on your leg. Don’t hold it between your legs.
Wait, you went to Berkeley and you are saying they are stupid?
My first guess was Santa Cruz, second, Berkeley. I was close.
"Lord, I asked for a Doctor!" < / jewish mother>
Yeah, but you guys drink our water which comes to you from north Calif.
P.S. I didn't know they had coffee either. I usually order a chocolate shake with my Double Double.
I remember that case from back then. A recent college graduate, at the age of 20-something, shouldn’t be burned as badly by hot coffee as an 80+ year old woman, and I thought that the McDonald’s lawsuit was pretty much bogus, too. Coffee should be hot. Don’t spill it in your lap.
Looking for a way to scam the system.....I thought Cal Berkeley had smarter folks than that....oh wait no I didn’t
The fact that they are letting the jury decide on $$$. I would opine that they are looking for a quick settlement from I & O. I would not give her and her lawyers a dime. 3 days in a hospital, Bull!
All that money for a college degree, and he lever learned that coffee was hot? Which BTW, is something most first graders should know.
If my coffee is served too cold as a result...I’m going to sue.
Maybe she should sue UC Berkeley for not making her smarter.
Did you Google the pics?
There was a time I would have agreed. Now I'm not so sure. A friend and his girlfriend picked up some pho soup and it spilled all over his lap, groin, legs, penis. 2nd and 3rd degree burns. In the hospital for days. Skin grafts were considered. Apparently the soup was crazy hot.
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