A little girl from South Florida was awarded $800,000 in damages by a jury after she suffered severe burns from a hot Chicken McNugget that fell on her leg at a McDonald’s drive-thru in 2019. The family had initially asked for $15 million, but they received $800,000 instead. McDonald’s USA and its franchise operator, Upchurch Foods, were held responsible for the incident.
At the time of the accident, Olivia Caraballo was four years old, and she is now eight. She refers to the scar on her inner thigh as her “nugget” and wishes to have it removed. The family’s lawyers argued that the nugget was extremely hot, above 200 degrees, which caused the severe burns. McDonald’s, on the other hand, claimed that the discomfort ended once the wound healed in about three weeks.
Even though the family had asked for a higher amount in damages, Olivia’s mother expressed satisfaction with the jury’s decision. She felt that the jury listened to her daughter’s side of the story and reached a fair judgment. McDonald’s defended its food safety practices, but the incident brought attention to the issue of hot food being served at drive-thru windows.
