US family sues McDonald’s after girl, 4, scalded by hot chicken nugget

Philana Holmes says the food was ‘dangerously hot’ and gave her daughter second-degree burns on her thighs

The chicken was left on the girl’s legs for nearly two minutes, and the plaintiff’s lawyers say their temperature was over 93 degrees Celsius

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McDonald’s was famously ordered to pay US$3 million to a New Mexico woman in 1994 after a spilled cup of coffee left her with third-degree burns on her thighs. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:00am, 10 May 2023Updated: 8:23am, 10 May 2023

The family of a four-year-old girl allegedly scalded by a steaming hot Chicken McNugget is taking McDonald’s to court in Broward County, Florida, faulting the fast-food giant for poor training and failing to protect its customers.

Philana Holmes says in her lawsuit that she took her daughter to the McDonald’s restaurant in the city of Tamarac in 2019 and ordered a six-piece Happy Meal with milk and a Lion King toy.

“The Chicken McNuggets inside of that Happy Meal were unreasonably and dangerously hot and caused [the victim’s] skin and flesh around her thighs to burn,” the lawsuit states.

The burns were second-degree, according to the lawsuit, and the chicken was on her thigh for nearly two minutes. The girl, whose name is not disclosed in the lawsuit, is autistic and will not be testifying.

Philana Holmes, who sued McDonald’s over her daughter’s burns from a hot chicken nugget, attends jury selection at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Monday. Photo: TNS

Lawsuits in state court do not require plaintiffs to be specific about how much money they are seeking, but it is above US$15,000.

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