 |
Bay News 9
Local Programming
On Demand
About
Community
Market Place
Services
Woman suing Burger King over spilt coffee
Central Florida News 13 (Poinciana) -- An 18-year-old Osceola County woman has filed a lawsuit that says Burger King burned her with five cups of hot coffee.
The incident happened about one week ago. Her lawyer filed the lawsuit at the Osceola Courthouse Wednesday afternoon.
According to Yoliara Ramos, she came to Burger King last Tuesday and ordered five cups of coffee.
But when the Burger King employee handed her the coffee, she says she got it, with the fifth cup placed in the middle of a carrier.
She said, because of that, the tray was unstable, and she spilled the coffee onto her lap, causing second and third degree burns.
For Ramos, the simple act changed her life.
"This is the most excruciating thing I have ever have gone through," Ramos said.
Ramos sustained the burns on her thighs, a painful reminder of what happened to her.
"As soon as I got out of the car, my skin was like literally, on the floor," Ramos said. "I literally picked it up off the floor."
Her lawyer, William McBride, says Ramos is suing Burger King not only for medical bills, pain and suffering and the cost of future procedures, like skin grafts and physical therapy.
According to the civil suit, the coffee burned through her skin to the muscle.
Now that she is home from the hospital, she has a nurse come and change her bandages, and her mother stays home from work to care for her.
"I'm mad, you know, because it shouldn't have happened to her." her mother said. "If they had been more careful, this would not have happened to her."
Ramos, now bedridden, is also seeking compensation for lost time at work and possible the loss of a scholarship. She is a Bright Futures winner and is missing classes while she is recuperating.
"The scars and all that will tell them how bad the burns were," Ramos' mother said. "You know this is not just a spill where she would get coffee on her -- you know it's a really bad mark that she is going to have forever."
McBride says they are still waiting to take a look at all of Ramos' medical information to find out the true extent of her injuries.
"We want to get discovery," McBride said. "We want to get video of the actual day at Burger King in the drive-through. We want to see the memos. We want to see the memos. We want to see what temperature they are serving the coffee. We want to know why somebody - an employee - would serve five cups of coffee when the tray only holds four and placing that fifth one in between them. That could happen to any of us."
Burger King spokesman Denise Wilson says they had not heard about the pending lawsuit and would get back to us with more information.
We have also asked if Burger King had a policy about the proper use of their beverage trays. There has been no response.
This story is from our Bright House Networks partner, Central Florida News 13.
Be in the Know with Bay News 9 Now!
Get news, weather, and traffic alerts delivered directly to your computer desktop, e-mail, or cell phone with Bay News 9 Now.
- Subscribe for free!
More State Stories
- Florida session: Tallahassee week in review
- Jacksonville babysitter accused of abusing baby
- Judge: Casey Anthony can use public money
- 37,000 citations issued in Click it or Ticket campaign
- SeaWorld: Don't release death videos
- Lawmakers: Let's cut car registration renewal fees
- Attorney: Casey Anthony is broke; state should pay fees
- Casey Anthony wants state to help pay for defense
- Is consistency in the use of red light cameras coming?
Snooty The Manatee Cam
Watch Snooty the manatee and friends at Parker Manatee Aquarium (Mon. -Sat. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.).
| |
Select the size text you want to use to view www.baynews9.com from the choices below.
Bay News 9's Partners
 |  |  |
|  |
About Bright House Networks