A Southwest Airlines passenger is suing the company and one of its flight attendants for burn injuries she says she sustained while being serve tea during a flight. Angelica Keller is seeking $300,000 for personal injury, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and property damages, as well as $500,000 in punitive damages.
The food injury accident allegedly occurred on December 28, 2011 while Keller was riding on Flight 955. She contends that the flight attendant gave her a cup of water that was “extremely” hot in another cup that was also carrying condiment packets and a tea bag. As the plaintiff tried to remove the tea bag, between the ‘hot’ paper cup with very hot water and the other cup, the liquid fell out and onto her groin area, causing her to sustain second degree burns, skin blisters, and permanent scarring.
Keller partially blames Southwest’s lack of tray tables in its planes’ front rows for her personal injury accident. She also believes that the airline served water that was too hot for use in a plane. Because she had her seatbelt on, Keller said it took her longer to get out of her seat because she couldn’t jump up right away. She claims the flight attendant wasn’t very helpful. Keller is contending that there was a failure to warn of the danger that can arise from drinking hot tea when there is a flight.
Meantime, Southwest has said that it safely serves approximately 100 million drinks on planes each year.
Food Injury Lawsuits
Restaurants and other facilities that provide customers with prepared foods must to make sure that the food is properly prepared and served. This includes making sure that plates and glasses are made of materials that will protect consumers from sustaining burn injuries when the food is hot or there is hot liquid involved. You may be entitled to hot drink injury compensation.
In Massachusetts, our Boston food injury lawyers represent clients that sustained injuries or got sick because of tainted foods, improperly prepared foods, spoiled foods, and other food and drink-related causes. Burns from food or drink can be very painful and cause serious scarring, disfigurement, and other discomfort.
Man Awarded $7.2M “Popcorn Lung” Verdict in Food Injury Lawsuit, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 24, 2012
Passenger sues Southwest Airlines over hot tea spill, CNN, September 26, 2012
More Blog Posts:
Southwest Sued Over Hot Tea Burns, ABC News, September 27, 2013
Grill Cleaning Brushes: An Unexpected Cause of Boston Injury During Summer, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 13, 2012
Buckyballs and Buckycube Magnet Maker Sued By CPSC Over Child Injuries, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, July 31, 2012