Florida Family Awarded $800,000 Against McDonald’s After Toddler Was Burned by Chicken Nuggets

The family sued the fast-food giant and its franchise owner for negligence, claiming that the nuggets were “unreasonably and dangerously hot”

A Florida family has won a civil lawsuit against McDonald’s and one of its franchisees after their toddler suffered burns from hot chicken nuggets.

The Broward County jury awarded the family $800,000 in damages on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, according to CNN. The jury found that the fast food chain and franchise owner did not give warning or guidance on how to avoid injury by the hot McNuggets that they ordered from a drive-thru in Tamarac, Fl.

The hot Chicken McNugget fell on the toddler’s leg in 2019 as her mother pulled away from McDonald’s, the South Florida SunSentinel reports.

Lawyers for the family of Olivia Caraballo — who is 8 but was 4 at the time — sought $15 million in damages, according to CBS News. The jury took less than two hours to reach their verdict, per the outlet. They assigned $400,000 in damages for the previous four years and an additional $400,000 for the future from McDonald’s USA and Upchurch Foods, its franchise operator.

"I'm actually just happy that they listened to Olivia's voice and the jury was able to decide a fair judgment," Olivia's mother, Philana Holmes, told reporters outside the courtroom, per CBS News. "I'm happy with that. I honestly had no expectations, so this is more than fair for me."

On Tuesday, Holmes testified that Olivia refers to the scar as her “nugget” and she is obsessed with having it removed, according to the outlet.

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Lawyers for McDonald’s said that the child was no longer in pain after the wound healed, which happened in roughly three weeks, CBS News reports. They argued that the girl’s mother was more troubled by the scar itself and suggested to jurors that $156,000 was appropriate to cover past and future damages.

"She's still going to McDonalds, she still asks to go to McDonald's, she's still driving through the drive-thru with her mom, getting chicken nuggets," defense attorney Jennifer Miller said in her closing argument Wednesday, per CBS News. "She's not bothered by the injury. This is all the mom."

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Another jury ruled in May that the injury was caused by the company and franchise owner, WPLG reports.

“The Chicken McNuggets inside of that Happy Meal were unreasonably and dangerously hot...and caused (the victim)’s skin and flesh around her thighs to burn,” the lawsuit stated, adding that the food was “unfit for human handling — let alone consumption” because of the temperature, per the outlet.

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“Today, a jury of reasonable and measured members of our community rendered a verdict that reflected the truth, the facts, and the law,” according to a statement from the Fischer Redavid law firm, per WPLG. “We don’t view this as a ‘split verdict.’ Two defendants went to trial, denying liability. A jury found both liable.”

The firm added: “This is full justice for Olivia.”

A representative for McDonald's did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

The new case is reminiscent of the infamous 1994 Liebeck v. McDonald's, known colloquially as the "hot coffee case." It saw a 79-year-old woman, who spilled McDonald's coffee on her legs and faced third-degree burns due to the high temperature of the liquid, receive a reported $600,000 as a result of the lawsuit.

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