Source: Alex Wong / Alex Wong
A lieutenant with Raleigh police’s special operations division named Mathew Kohr, and his wife Melanie are suing Starbucks for both physical and emotional injuries he suffered after spilling a scolding hot cup of coffee. The incident occurred in January 2012 when Kohr says he was given a faulty cup at the Starbucks on Peace Street. He says the lid popped off and the cup folded in on itself and caused a chain of problems in his life.
A Wake County Senior Resident Judge by the name of Donald Stephens agreed to allow for punitive damages as well, which means the case could be worth around $750,000. Opening statements from the attorneys for Starbucks were given on Tuesday.
“How does someone who knows their coffee is hot, who has had 50 cups of free coffee in the last two months, how does that person spill their coffee?” asked defense attorney Tricia Derr. Derr continued to argue that it was Kohr who was negligent and that it was his pre-existing health condition that caused his problems.
Kohr’s attorney Daniel Johnson rebutted that statement by telling the court “He jumped up. The pain was immediate and unbearable. What that burn did, the stress of that burn, the trauma of that burn set off his Crohn’s Disease in a way that he had never experienced it before.”
Kohr claims he suffered burns and blisters and required surgery to remove a portion of his intestine. His wife is seeking compensation for a loss of companionship. Melanie Kohr says that due to the incident her husband withdrew from her and even Michael stated that he felt like he was unable to be a husband and father during the 18months of recovery.
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