A Florida jury awarded a family $800,000 in a lawsuit that alleged a 4-year-old girl was severely burned in 2019 by a hot Chicken McNugget from a local McDonald's franchise.
A jury in Fort Lauderdale had previously found fault with McDonald's and the franchise owner, Upchurch Foods, in a verdict in May. On July 19, a jury deliberated for two hours to decide the financial penalty, according to NBC Miami.
Philana Holmes and Humberto Caraballo Estevez, the parents of Olivia Caraballo, sued the two entities claiming the girl suffered second-degree burns on her leg from a nugget that got stuck in her car seat.
They said said the injuries came from “unreasonably and dangerously” hot nuggets in her Happy Meal from a McDonald's location in Tamarac, according to NBC Miami.
McDonald's and Upchurch argued they were not liable for the burns.
“I’m actually just happy they listened to Olivia’s voice and the jury was able to decide a fair judgement, I’m happy with that,” Holmes told NBC Miami.
Attorneys for the couple called the $800,000 award “fair and just” in a statement. The family had been seeking $15 million in damages, according to NBC Miami.
The parents showed “remarkable courage in their unwavering pursuit of justice for their daughter, despite the case’s polarization within the court of public opinion,” their lawyers said in the statement.
The jury found that McDonald's and Upchurch failed to put warnings on the Chicken McNuggets that led to Caraballo’s injury, but McDonald’s was not found negligent for causing the burns, NBC Miami reported.
McDonald's and Upchurch did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TODAY.com about the ruling.
Following the initial verdict on May 11, McDonald’s sent NBC Miami a statement that described the situation as an “unfortunate incident” and said “we respectfully disagree with the verdict.”
“Our customers should continue to rely on McDonald’s to follow policies and procedures for serving Chicken McNuggets safely,” the company said.
Brent Upchurch, the owner of Upchurch Foods, also issued a statement to NBC Miami after the May verdict.
“We are deeply disappointed with today’s verdict because the facts show that our restaurant in Tamarac, Florida did indeed follow those protocols when cooking and serving this Happy Meal,” he said.
“Our community here in South Florida should remain confident that we will continue serving safe and high-quality meals, just as we’ve done for more than 50 years at Upchurch Management restaurants.”