Starbucks To Pay California Man $50 Million. Here’s What Happened

Starbucks has been ordered to pay a California man $50 million after a judge determined that the coffee chain’s hot beverage irreparably burned the ride-share employee. Let’s look at what we know about the details of this monumental lawsuit.

Starbucks Tea Burned the Man’s Genitals

According to the Associated Press, a Los Angeles County jury ruled in favor of Michael Garcia, who had skin grafts and other genital surgeries performed after a venti-sized tea drink spilled seconds after he picked it up on Feb. 8, 2020. His attorneys claim that he has suffered severe and life-changing deformity.

Garcia’s negligence complaint accused Starbucks of his injuries, claiming that staff failed to properly wedge the scorching hot drink into a takeout tray.

“This jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility,” one of Garcia’s attorneys, Nick Rowley, said in a statement.

The coffee chain said that while it sympathized with Garcia’s plight, it planned to appeal the verdict. “We disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive,” the Seattle-based coffee giant said in a statement.

This latest verdict is reminiscent of the infamous 1990s case against McDonald’s, where a New Mexico woman was awarded $2.9 million in damages from jurors against the fast-food giant after suffering similar burns from the chain’s coffee. The 79-year-old woman was hospitalized after suffering third-degree burns and underwent a series of skin graft operations to recover. However, a judge later lowered the award, and the matter was resolved for less than $600,000. Despite the lawsuit, McDonald’s still has not lowered its coffee temperature, with the average temperature ranging from 176–194 °F, and the chain continues to face lawsuits due to its excessively hot coffee.

Coffee Chain Closing Several Stores in 2025

Momentous case aside, Starbucks is still facing financial difficulties, with the chain reporting in January that it was closing several of its locations in 2025. Some locations, in fact, are already closed, with more projected to close throughout the year.

The following is a list of Starbucks stores that have already closed in 2025:

• 99 Jackson St., San Francisco, CA
• 1799 Fulton St., San Francisco, CA
• 2222 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA
• 166 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn, NY
• 1851 Bethlehem Pike, Flourtown, PA
• 1046 W Patrick St., Frederick, MD
• 1201 Elm St., Dallas, TX
• 1001 N Arney Road, Woodburn, OR
• 12000 SE 82nd Ave. Clackamas Town, Center, Happy Valley, OR
• 10201 W 75th St., Overland Park, KS
• 145 W Santa Clara St., San Jose, CA
• 751 N Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, IL

“Despite our heightened investments, we were unable to change the trajectory of our traffic decline, resulting in pressures in both our top-line and bottom-line,” said Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri in a statement attached to its preliminary financial results last October. “While our efficiency efforts continued to produce according to plan, they were not enough to outpace the impact of the decline in traffic.”

The statement continued: “We are developing a plan to turn around our business, but it will take time. We want to amplify our confidence in the business, and provide some certainty as we drive our turnaround. For that reason, we have increased our dividend.”

“As part of Starbucks’ standard course of business, we continually evaluate our business to ensure a healthy store portfolio,” an unnamed representative for the coffee company told SFGATE, per Newsweek, following the series of San Francisco store closures.