Florida girl awarded $800,000 for McDonald's Chicken McNugget burn

Image source, Getty Images

  • Author, Madeline Halpert
  • Role, 大象传媒 News, New York

A Florida jury has awarded an eight-year-old girl $800,000 (拢622,000) in damages after she was severely burnt when a McDonald's Chicken McNugget fell on her leg.

The "dangerously hot" McNugget burnt Olivia Caraballo in 2019, then four, as she opened her Happy Meal in the car at a McDonald's drive-thru in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

Her family had sought $15m in damages.

A jury in May found McDonald's and its franchise liable for the injury.

A different jury in Broward County, Florida deliberated for less than two hours on Wednesday before reaching its verdict about damages, according to .

Ms Caraballo was awarded the $800,000 in damages from McDonald's and franchise owner Upchurch Foods for pain and suffering and mental anguish, including $400,000 for the past four years as well as $400,000 for the future.

In a statement, the family's legal team called the decision "momentous".

"I'm actually just happy that they listened to Olivia's voice and the jury was able to decide a fair judgment," the girl's mother, Philana Holmes, told US media outside court.

"I'm happy with that. I honestly had no expectations, so this is more than fair for me."

The 大象传媒 has contacted McDonald's for comment.

Ms Holmes told the jury that her daughter has a scar from the burn and is anxious to have it removed, according to the Sun Sentinel.

In the court, lawyers for the family shared photos of the burn as well as audio of the girl's screams after getting injured.

McDonald's had argued the family should receive $156,000 because, they claimed, her pain ended after the burn healed in three weeks.

"She's still going to McDonald's, she still asks to go to McDonald's, she's still driving through the drive-thru with her mom, getting chicken nuggets," defence attorney Jennifer Miller said in court, according to the 大象传媒's US partner CBS News.