Usually when you hear about a lawsuit involving hot coffee, the normal reaction is, “Well, yeah, coffee is hot, you should be careful when drinking it, silly consumer.” But in the case of a 14-month-old girl who was scalded at a Denny’s, her family said it was the server’s fault for putting the hot beverage close enough for the toddler to grab it. As such, they’ve settled with a New York Denny’s to the tune of $500,000.

The girl, now five, was with her family at the rest stop restaurant about 20 miles outside of Buffalo in June 2010, when she grabbed a hot cup of coffee and spilled it on herself, reports The Buffalo News.

She suffered first- and second-degree burns on her neck, chest and abdomen, prompting her parents to sue the restaurant’s owners. They claimed that the waitress was negligent in putting the coffee close enough for her to grab for it.

“Sometime after the family is seated, a cup of coffee is placed on the table, which the infant was able to grab and dump on herself,” the family said in court papers.

The case finally went to trial last month, but then an insurance carrier for the company that owned the now-closed Denny’s offered $500,000 to the family.

The final settlement approved by a magistrate judge is sealed, though it’s believed that it’s close to the previously disclosed $500,000 amount. The money should be welcome — the family says it will cost about $340,000 to take care of the girl’s medical costs for the rest of her life.

Family of girl scalded by Denny’s coffee wins $500,000 settlement [The Buffalo News]

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