Now that’s some hot sauce…
A 19-year old San Antonio woman was just awarded $2.8 million in a Bexar County court for injuries sustained after purchasing breakfast tacos from Bill Miller Bar-B-Q back in October of 2023.
In May of 2023, Genesis Monita and her sister ordered four breakfast tacos and barbecue sauce from the drive-thru before parking in their lot to eat. KSAT reports that when Monita grabbed the BBQ sauce, it was so hot that she dropped it on to her leg:
“When Monita took the container of bar-b-que sauce it was so hot that it caused her to drop the container and spill the sauce on her right thigh causing a second-degree burn”
The lawsuit went on to claim that the restaurant was fully at fault for her injuries after serving it dangerously hot and not warning her about the potential damages it could cause. It alleged that Monita suffered physical and mental pain, physical impairment, disfigurement, medical and psychological expenses, and lost wages.
At first I was wary of this story as it seems like someone was just reaching for money, but take a look at this photo of the injury and make a judgement for yourself…
Monita’s lawyer, Lawrence Morales, also claimed this is the second such incident that occurred at Bill Miller’s, while alleging they serve their sauce at temperatures well beyond that recommended by state guidelines:
In his opening argument, Morales said:
“Bill Miller’s unequivocal policy is they will serve their sauce at 165 degrees. Bill Miller violated their safety policy and allowed their barbecue sauce to heat up to a dangerous 189 degrees.”
State guidelines say sauce can be safely served at 135 degrees.
Nearly $3 Million in Damages
The jury found Bill Miller’s fully negligent for serving Monita barbecue sauce at excessive temperatures and not warning her about the danger. She was awarded $2.8 million, which included $900,000 for past and future mental anguish, $25,000 for medical expenses, and $1.9 million in punitive damages.
Miller’s can appeal but Fox7 says court records do not show one being filed yet. The chain has over 70 locations throughout the Lone Star State and was founded as a fried chicken restaurant in 1953.
At first I didn’t know how to feel about this. Just under $3 million for spilling some BBQ sauce? At surface level that sounds a bit excessive. Is this another case of frivolous lawsuits stifling business? From the looks of that injury it sure seems like it was well deserved…
Infamous McDonald’s Hot Coffee Lawsuit
I don’t know how well known the infamous McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit is for the younger readers but back in 1994, a 79-year old woman named Stella Liebeck spilled a fresh cup of coffee on her lap while sitting in the passenger seat of her grandson’s car in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She got third degree burns from the spill and was initially awarded $2.7 million ($5.7 million today) in punitive damages, though they later settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Liebeck was hospitalized for 8 days while undergoing skin grafting and required an additional 2 years of medical treatment
This wasn’t some cut and dry case through. Rumors of her wrongdoing and a general public feeling that she was taking advantage of the legal system ran rampant with media outlets portraying Liebeck as “the poster child of excessive lawsuits”.
In the trial, the jury determined that McDonald’s was 80% responsible for the incident, as their coffee (served at 180-190 degrees) was more likely to cause injury than any other establishments temperature.
