California Man Claims Spilled Starbucks Tea Burnt Him So Badly His Genitals Were Disfigured

By Samantha in News On 25th September 2020
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This California man has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks after claiming that a hot tea spill has caused severe body burns after a lid on his cup popped off, spilling scalding hot tea onto his stomach, hands and genitals.


The incident happened back on October 5, 2018, when then 22-year-old Tommy Piluyev ordered two hot drinks from a Starbucks drive-thru in Roseville, California.

"As the window associate reached to the SUV’s window sill to deliver the second sleeved and lidded cup to Mr. Piluyev, the lid lost its seal with the cup lip and dislodged from the top of the cup," a portion of the lawsuit reads, per the news outlet.


"Hot tea spilled on Mr. Piluyev’s left hand during the transfer, the cup overturned on the window sill and hot tea poured onto Mr. Piluyev’s hands, stomach and pelvic area."






“Covered in scalding tea, and unable to open his door to escape because he was near the drive-through window, Mr. Piluyev quickly put the SUV into gear and accelerated from the window. He pulled into an adjacent parking lot, hastily exited the vehicle stripped off his sweat pants.”


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The lawsuit also makes claims that by the time Piluyev reached the hospital he had suffered, "partial-thickness burns with blistering across the lower left abdomen, thighs, penis, scrotum, peritoneum, and buttocks".


As reported by The Sacramento Bee, Piluyev can no longer play the piano due to injuries he sustained to his hands. He spent a total of 11 days UC Davis Medical Center’s burn unit, where he was given "intravenous pain control along with intensive and invasive wound care," the lawsuit states.

“Upon discharge, Mr. Piluyev’s wife performed her husband’s wound and personal care. Mr. Piluyev transitioned from IV narcotics to gabapentin, oxycodone, Tylenol and ibuprofen. In the five months post-discharge Mr. Piluyev gradually regained the ability to walk, the ability to sense touch in some of his fingers, the ability to hold his young child, and eventually, to use a computer keyboard. Mr. Piluyev remained unable to play the piano," the suit continues.


It also claims that "sensitivity and permanent skin discoloration and disfigurement of Mr. Piluyev’s genitals and inner thighs made eventual intimacy awkward and painful."


As reported by PEOPLE, in addition to Starbucks, Mr. Piluyev and his wife are also suing Pactiv Packaging Inc., the company the suit claims supplied the cups and lids.




 


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Whitney Davis, Piluyev's attorney, told PEOPLE, "We make companies such as Starbucks part of our daily life. In return, they must remedy known dangers to their staff and customers.



"Mr. Piluyev’s burns resulted from lid defects known to Starbucks management for several years. Spilling 180-200 degree tea on a customer is ordinarily an accident. However, when you know how many times per day it will occur at a drive-thru because your lid is defective, harm is not an accident, it is a certainty". 



 

A spokesperson for Starbucks told PEOPLE, "Our partners take great pride in ensuring that our beverages are crafted with care and delivered to customers in a safe manner.


"And we do take our responsibility to provide a safe environment very seriously and will continue to do so moving forward."


Of Piluyev, they added, "It's clear that his injuries did cause him a great deal of pain and suffering. We wish him well in his continuing recovery."










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