A family in Florida has been awarded $800,000 in damages after their 4-year-old, Olivia Caraballo, got second-degree burns from McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets that fell on her leg outside a McDonald’s in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale.
While the little girl’s mother was pulling away from the drive-thru the chicken nuggets spilled on the little girl’s leg burning her. The incident occurred in 2019. On Wednesday jurors decided that the family was going to get $400,000 in damages for the last four years since the incident, and an additional $400,000 for the future. The damages would need to be covered by McDonald’s USA and Upchurch Foods, which runs its franchise.
In an earlier jury verdict in May, it was determined that the company and franchise owner were going to be considered liable for the injury.
Philana Holmes, the little girl’s mother, told reporters that she believed the jury’s decision was “fair.” She added that she was happy to see that her daughter had been heard and they were able to get a “fair judgment.” She added that at first, she did not have any expectations from this case so she considers the decision to be “more than fair.”
On Tuesday, Holmes testified that her daughter referred to her inner thigh scar caused by the incident as her “nugget” and that she had the intention to have it removed. The family had originally sought $15 million in damages. The mother also pointed out that McDonald’s had not warned them at any point about the high temperature of the food.
