Woman sues Chick-fil-A after she spills coffee on her lap

A Georgia woman is suing a local Chick-fil-A store after she spilled coffee on her lap.

What are the details?

According to WPXI-TV, Leigh Mehalick alleges that one of the store's employees handed her a steaming cup of coffee with a defective lid during an August exchange.

Mehalick filed the negligence suit on Tuesday in Fulton County Court.

The station reported that Mehalick purchased two hot coffees at the drive-thru. One of the cups reportedly spilled in Mehalick's lap due to either a defective lid or lid that was not affixed to the cup properly.

Margaret Phillips, the Chick-fil-A franchise owner, addressed the suit. She told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "We are aware of the complaint from August, and conducted a full investigation at tha time. The safety of our guests is of the utmost priority at Chick-fil-A Commerce."

The Journal-Constitution reported that Mehalick suffered "severe and permanent burns" as a result of the spilled coffee. She is seeking $21,000 in medical expenses, as well an unspecified amount for other medical expenses and legal costs.

Mehalick's attorney declined to comment on the case, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Anything else?

This isn't the first suit of its kind.

• Perhaps the most infamous suit took place after a 1994 incident in which McDonald's coffee scalded a female patron. In this case, however, the woman took issue with the fact that the chain restaurant's coffee was heated to an unsafe level, rather than focusing on faulty packaging or negligent packaging. The woman settled with the company for about $600,000. You can read more about her suit here.
• In 2018, a woman sued an Oregon McDonald's after reportedly serving hot water at an "unreasonably dangerous" temperature. The woman is seeking $1.6 million in damages at the time of this writing.
• In 2017, another woman took home $100,000 after a lawsuit against Starbucks for a similar incident, which took place in 2014.
• In 2016, a woman also sued Starbucks over coffee that spilled all over her lap in a drive-thru lane. She successfully sued the company for "past and future pain," among other injuries. In 2017, however, the woman filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.