Starbucks has settled a lawsuit in which a barista accidentally spilled hot coffee on a 7-month-old baby.

Ethan Thorn was an infant when his parents brought him into a Starbucks in Somerville’s Davis Square in April, 2006. According to the lawsuit, a store employee serving a cup of coffee to Ethan’s father accidentally spilled coffee on the baby’s legs and groin, causing second-degree burns. The baby was in his father’s arms at the time.

The baby, now 2, was treated at Shriners Hospital in Boston over the course of several months, according to the lawsuit.

The $70,000 settlement does not require Starbucks to admit any liability, and will be placed in a trust for the boy.

Here’s the odd part:

The suit, filed on behalf of the family by Manchester lawyer Orestes Brown, said the coffee shop employee “had a duty of reasonable care not to serve hot coffee to an infant.”

What a strange way of wording it.

Starbucks settles suit over coffee-scalded infant for $70K [Gloucester Daily Times via Starbucks Gossip]
(Photo:Vince Brown (attila))

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