EAST LYME — A Dunkin' Donuts customer filed a personal injury lawsuit reminiscent of the famous McDonald's hot coffee complaint, contending a loose lid on a cup of blazing hot java caused him lasting pain and suffering.
Wendell Johnson of Danbury stated in the suit filed in state Superior Court in New London Dec. 1 that he ordered a cup of decaffeinated coffee at the drive-thru window of a Dunkin' Donuts in East Lyme's Niantic section on July 1 at 5 a.m.
Because the coffee was still brewing, an employee asked Johnson to pull forward and wait and the coffee would be brought to him, the suit said. An employee came up to the driver's side window and handed Johnson the cup, but as Johnson was trying to set it down in the car's center console, the lid dislodged and the hot coffee spilled on his right side, according to the suit.
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Johnson contends Dunkin' and its employees were negligent in not properly securing the lid, not delivering the coffee "in a proper and/or reasonable manner" and in failing to ensure the temperature of the coffee "was not unreasonably/dangerously high/hot so as to cause harm to the plaintiff," the lawsuit says.
A representative from the corporate offices of Dunkin' couldn't immediately be reached for comment on Sunday. Christina Hanna, the attorney representing Johnson, didn't immediately return a request for comment on Sunday.
Johnson suffered extensive second-degree burns to his right side, prolonged pain and suffering and emotional distress and post traumatic stress disorder, according to the complaint. He has suffered "permanent injuries, disfigurement and scarring to his right side" and "permanent injuries to his brain/cognition," the suit stated.
Johnson had to spend unspecified, but "considerable sums of money" for medical treatment, including plastic surgery, the suit claimed. He seeks standard damages of more than $15,000.
The McDonald's case opened in 1992, when hot coffee purchased at an Albuquerque, N.M. drive-thru spilled in 79-year-old Stella Liebeck's lap as she held the cup between her knees to add cream and sugar, according to a description of the case by the American Museum of Tort Law in Winsted. The case became a joke on late night TV and "was unfairly held up as an example of frivolous litigation in the public eye," according to the Tort Museum.
In fact, the coffee was 190 degrees and caused third-degree burns over 16 percent of Liebeck's body, the museum reported. Liebeck at first sought $15,000 to $20,000 from McDonald's to cover her medical expenses, but the restaurant offered only $800, according to the museum's description, which draws in part on published reports. A jury initially awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages, but the trial judge reduced that to $480,000, and the parties later settled for a confidential amount, reportedly less than $500,000, according to the Tort Law museum.
Johnson's lawsuit names as defendants Stonington Foods, LLC, doing business as Dunkin', also known as Thomas Serpa Group, also known as Apres Management.