A South Florida jury awarded $800,000 ($A1,180,908) in damages to a little girl who received second-degree burns when a hot Chicken McNugget fell on her leg as her mother pulled away from the drive-thru of a McDonald’s restaurant.
Lawyers for the family of Olivia Caraballo, who was 4 when she was burned in 2019, were seeking $15 million ($A22 million) in damages.
Jurors reached their verdict after deliberating for less than two hours on Wednesday, the South Florida SunSentinel reported.
Watch the latest News on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >>
The jury’s verdict form allotted $400,000 ($A590,454) in damages for the past four years, and another $400,000 ($A590,454) for the future from McDonald’s USA and its franchise operator, Upchurch Foods.
A separate jury decided in May that the company and franchise owner were liable for the injury, which occurred outside a McDonald’s in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale.
“I’m actually just happy that they listened to Olivia’s voice and the jury was able to decide a fair judgement,” Olivia’s mother, Philana Holmes, said outside the courtroom.
“I’m happy with that. I honestly had no expectations, so this is more than fair for me.”
She testified on Tuesday that Olivia, now 8, calls the scar on her inner thigh her “nugget” and is fixated on having it removed, the newspaper reported.
Lawyers for McDonald’s argued the child’s discomfort ended when the wound healed, which they said took about three weeks.
They contended the mother is the one who has the problem with the scar, and told jurors that $156,000 ($A230,277) should cover damages, both past and future.
“She’s still going to McDonalds, she still asks to go to McDonald’s, she’s still driving through the drive-thru with her mum, getting chicken nuggets,” defence lawyer Jennifer Miller said in her closing argument on Wednesday.
“She’s not bothered by the injury. This is all the mum.”
Defence lawyers declined to comment on the verdict.
Holmes testified she had purchased Happy Meals for her son and daughter, who was sitting in the back seat, and was driving away when the nugget fell on Olivia’s leg.
She said Olivia screamed in pain and, when she pulled over in a parking lot, she realised the nugget was lodged between the girl’s thigh and the seat belt.
The mother testified that at no point did McDonald’s warn her the food might be unusually hot.
The company testified it follows food safety rules, which require McNuggets to be hot enough to avoid salmonella poisoning, and that what happens with the food once it leaves the drive-thru window is beyond its control.
While both sides agreed during the trial in May that the nugget caused the burns, the family’s lawyers argued the temperature was above 200F (93C), while the defence said it was no more than 160F (71C).
Photos the mother took of the burn and sound clips of the child’s screams were played in court.
The case may stoke memories of the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit of the 1990s, which became an urban legend of sorts