Couple sues Starbucks over child's hot chocolate that was too hot

Michael and Alexis Brennan allege that a Starbucks employee incorrectly provided their child an adult hot-chocolate drink after the mother had ordered a child version for her at a drive-through window. According to the lawsuit, Starbucks' policy at the time was to serve children's hot chocolate drinks at a lower temperature than that of adult drinks, and that the temperature of children's drinks was supposed to be incapable of burning skin. (TheIndyChannel.com)

Comments

[Halee]

BARISTAS SHOULD REALLY BE AWARE OF WHOM THE DRINK IS INTENDED FOR....EVEN IF THAT MEANS STATING THE OBVIOUS AND QUESTIONING THE CONSUMER ABOUT THE AGE OF THE PERSON WHOM MAY BE DRINKING THE BEVERAGE....

what mother lets her kid drink HOT chocolate in the car? Key word: HOT. That's what hot chocolate is. Hot chocolate should be consumed at a table, NOT a moving car. She should have ordered a chocolate milk.
the mother should be sued for child abuse and endangerment. I ALWAYS checked my kids' drinks BEFORE i gave it to them. I still check and they're 21 and 17. C'mon. people will do anything to get a few bucks from a corporation.
GEEZ!!!

[coffeeguy]

How about you don't drive and drink a hot beverage and sit down before you spill and hurt yourself....common sense anyone?

[Deusx]

I agree that the primary person responsible for ensuring a child's safety is their parent. This woman is admitting to handing her child a beverage that had been heated without checking to see what the temperature was. That is just dumb. Not to mention that a child's hot chocolate comes in a short cup, so this woman was handed an 8oz cup and 12 oz cup and apparently thought the adult cup would be the smaller one.

This is very much a case of "im too stupid or busy to take care of my child so I will blame things that happen to them on others".

[Robin]

As a parent, I can't fathom handing my kid a hot drink without checking the temperature first. It takes a whopping two seconds to do. Absolutely ridiculous lawsuit that will take up valuable court time and resources.

[Stephen Shores]

Absolutely stupid.

[Sheik]

First the customers want their dairy insanely hot -- 191 degrees... 210 degrees

Now they are saying it's TOO hot?

Ugh!!!!!!

[exSFBarista]

KHCs are made with about an inch of hot milk and then filled with cold milk and topped with whipped cream. They're barely lukewarm if made correctly.

Even if the barista totally screwed up and didn't put in the cold milk, normal steamed milk is NOT hot enough to cause the kind of burns reported in the article. Something's not right here.

[Nicole]

Um... exsfbarista. I dont know if milk guidelines are different where you are from. But here in NY you are NEVER allowed to mix cold and hot milk. It causes the milk to curdle and creates bacteria. That is why milk is to be heated no more than twice, and pitchers must be rinsed out before adding cold milk.

KHC's are made with milk that is cooled to 110-120deg or steamed... whatever is available. (i might be wrong on this exact temperature... i havent made a kids drink in practically my entire sbux career)

and still, even though that is the guideline temperature... it is up to the parent to decide if that is too hot.

Someone checks their 21 year olds drinks to insure they are not too hot? Eeeeek...scary.

[sbuxmanager]

Did you pay attention when you went through food safety? Adding cold milk to hot milk does not CREATE bacteria. The effect of adding cold milk to hot milk is to potentially contaminate milk by giving bacteria the opportunity to grow in ideal conditions. Ideal conditions are between 70 and 120 degrees farenheight (sorry, can't spell)over time. (remember, you need time AND temperature to contaminate food). Adding a little bit of cold milk to hot milk will most likely not contaminate it (or make it curdle) as long as it is consumed quickly. And you do NOT let milk cool to 110 -120 degrees for children's drinks. That lets the bacteria grow in the temperature danger zone with ample time. You steam it seperately to 130-135. Please tell me what store you work at so I can avoid it like the plague.

[Cory Nickolatos]

I know that at the two stores I've worked at, no one really took the time to explain to baristas about that element of beverage making... I mean, it's self-evident that a kid's drink should be cooler than the standard beverage, but parents are kind of on the Russian Roulette if they're gonna go into a Starbucks... Especially if it's busy. I make sure that a kid's drink is always cooler because I just know better, but I've seen other baristas do the 'cold-milk-hot-milk' trick, and then another time an angry mother came back with a crying kid.

But I can understand the frustrations of a barista. To have to stop, put a teeny bit of milk into the pitcher, stand there and manually make sure it's at the correct temperature, and then move on with the 5 million other drinks in line really can mess with your groove.

[Barista19]

Dumb ass parents stay home and keep your brat home too!If the steamed milk is that hot and dangerous than i would not have any skin left on my hands. I am soooo tired of this new breed of useless whinning, indulging your kids to death parents.

I wish theyd just take Hot Chocolate off the damn menu, only bitchy ass soccer moms and their bratty ass kids order it anyways. Its a coffee place assholes, order coffee or get the hell out.

[Theolaxor]

Who the hell taught you people to steam kids drinks to 130 or even to add cold milk to hot milk? obviously training didnt apply to these ppl, or they are just ignorant- ask anyone and they will tel you that kids drinks should be 120

[Theolaxor]

Also- this is a rediculous reason for a lawsuit; upon recieving a 150+ degree drink a RESPONSIBLE parent would have politely notified the DT partner that it was supposed to be kids, not let their shit kid spray it all over themselves and then file a lawsuit. I bet the parent didn't even specify that it was KIDS, and in reality just asked for a small- this happens ALL THE TIME, and I'm sick of hearing about it.

[Theolaxor]

Upon further review of the article I also believe that maybe the barista accidentally put whipped cream on the adult one by mistake, causing the ignorant parent to hand it to the child. It is, however, still the parent's fault, and not that of the barista, since most adults have even the most rudimentary tactile preception, while not everyone can be expected to put or not put whipped cream on beverages, that being a relatively insignificant error.

[JW]

It sounds silly to me. They shouldn't allow people to order anything hot for their kids unless it is for dining in. But I don't recall Starbucks asking if it is for her or to go. IMHO they shouldn't serve hot chocolate unless it has coffee in it some how. I mean the sign does read "Starbucks Coffee."

[Becca]

We were taught to steam to 120 and that it'd increase to 125-130 for kids drinks. We get a tonne of hot chocolates and a tonne of kids drinks. Also, Cory, re: "But I can understand the frustrations of a barista. To have to stop, put a teeny bit of milk into the pitcher, stand there and manually make sure it's at the correct temperature, and then move on with the 5 million other drinks in line really can mess with your groove."
There is no need to do that, you just stop steaming the pitcher at 120, pour the kids drink, then continue steaming the milk for your other drinks.

[Becca]

Also, it says nothing about whether or not she passed her daughter the correct drink... likely didn't. I still can't see a drink burning like that, ESPECIALLY when wipped cream is on top of it. (Everyone who's had a snapshot with a mocha having a low temperature knows how the mocha syrup and the whipped cream drop the drink's temp significantly). I would be in no way suprised if she's a shitty driver and pulled some jerkey move causing the drink to spill. Yeesh. 1) Learn to parent 2) Learn to drive

[mr. starbucks]

cory- our job is to make any and every drink called to you, stopping and making kids milk is not messing up your groove, it is part of your groove.

[416barista]

Its really not hard to make a kids drink and it only takes a few seconds of your time. As someone at a store that makes a ton of kids drinks, I don't get what all the fuss is about??? This is part of our job, so please stop all the complaining!!!

[coffeeguy]

agreed. I always steam kids milk to 130 degrees max.

NEVER EVER EVER EVER add cold milk to hot milk is how I was trained. I uphold that too.

to the person creeped out because i check the temperature of my kid's drink: wait until you have a kid before you pass judgment. a mother ALWAYS cares for her kids, no matter how old they get. maybe you don't have a mother who cares about you?

[MGR2]

Wow. Wrongness. Kid's drinks are steamed to 140, as it's outside of the bacterial danger zone. Isn't the portal great?

[Lauren]

Clarity: New beverage manual says "steamed cooler than adult temperature." Most stores train as 125-130. Not so clear now...is it

[tulsa*barista]

wow.
you people are really retarded.
kids drinks are steamed to 140.
only one other person knows the correct temps.

[barista suz]

I thought kids hot chocolates should be steamed no higher than 130. I cringe when I'm prepping a drink [bar 1] and someone else is pouring the milk [bar 2] when it's a kids hot chocolate and they're using normal 160 degree milk. Damn fools!

[Sue in Seattle]

I don't see how the Mom could have handed it to her daughter not knowing it was hot. Even if she didn't test it herself, she would have felt how hot it was when she felt THE PAPER CUP. If you need a sleeve, it's too hot to drink right then!

[Nat]

Wow. You really loathe your customers, don't you? So many posts where baristas refer to their customers negatively. These dumbasses you refer to keep Starbucks alive. This dumbass will get her coffee elsewhere

[Isis Von Kamph]

I agree. The people who work at Starbucks don't care about anything but the coffee. They should be commended for not caring about their fellow human beings. If you throw aside the fact that Starbucks employees are mindless, corporate meat puppets, they're pretty useful.

[P. Mason]

Couoldn't the mother have told the kid that it was hot (kid temperature or not), and stop the car while she drank most of it. Oh, wait a minute, that would have involved personal responsibility, and why have that when it's easier to call the nearest shyster lawyer if something goes wrong.

[Chi-towns best/angriest barista]

i am not a mindless corporate meat puppet. i just hate stupid people who assume someone else will do all their thinking for them, and when their stupidity is caught they quickly run to blame it on someone else instead of admitting PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'm pretty sure a HOT chocolate is going to be HOT, no matter if it's a kid's drink or not.
learn to think people.

[newbarista]

Okay. I just finished my training at starbucks...in the Canadian version of barista 101, it states that a kids hot chocolate is to be steamed no higher than 120. Milk in gerneral can't be steamed higher than 190 because we have to throw it out if it reaches 200 and sanitize the pitcher.

But i'm sure the temperature for steaming kids drinks varies in different regions because of different laws.

Personally, i dont see why we have to make kids drinks at a lower temperature because no other coffee shop has does.

[Barista19]

I am going to open a gay coffee house, there will be no blenders, no kids hot chocolates and no soccer moms yeah!!!!

[CuteBarista!]

starbucks: coffee for breeders...

[unBarista]

Great.
I already have to order my drinks "extra hot" cause otherwise, the norm seems to be near room temp. Even so, I often get a carmel macchiato somewhere between warm and hot.

With all this lawsuit nonsense the past few years, it seems to be getting worse. I forgot to say "extra hot" a couple of weeks ago, and sure enough, the drink was kinda "warm"--that's it.

Maybe *$ should start having customers fill out legal releases...then you could swipe my card and if I'm on file, actually make my drink hot without my asking?

No release, no hot drink for you!

[newbarista]

A gay coffee house would be fabulous! Barista boys wearing tight shorts, no shirt with an apron would be HOT....

Its a shame that only married women hit on me at work...blah...so we're giving a free drink to the first cute guy that does...lol

[Detroit Barista]

I'm not commenting on the legal part of it, but I'm a little distressed by the baristas who are so wanky about...doing their jobs. I don't especially like kids, but I still recognize that part of my job is to a) make drinks to standard/customer specs and b) put the customer first. If a parent orders a HC, I ask if it's for a kid and then call it back reflecting the kid's temp. Parents who don't even know that we do that appreciate it. As far as convenience goes...it takes you maybe a minute to fill a pitcher and steam it to 120-135 (the general consensus on kid's temp here). The alternatives to that discussed here--namely, adding cold milk to steamed, and letting milk sit until it's the appropriate temp--sound absoultely disgusting. They are also both verboten...that's in Barista 101 and the BRM. Those of us who work in a DT store and don't have the luxury of a double bar manage just fine steaming individual pitchers. Besides, we do it all the time for extra-hot or soy drinks; why is it such a BFD when it comes to a kid's drink?

[Isis Von Kamph]

Oh, but you are a corporate meat puppet. You think Starbucks coffee is the best because your corporation chooses to make it cost more. I agree though. The people who buy coffee from Starbucks are idiots. They spend their hard earned money on mediocre coffee to keep the ungrateful employed. Those people you call idiots are the reason you have a job as a stooge. Why do people who work at Starbucks thing they're top notch? You're no different than those who work at McDonalds or Burger King. You do the same thing - it's just a different product. You are not above anybody. Puppet.

[Partner Prosumer]

Next lawsuit against Starbucks: dog gets sick from "pupachinos."

I don't know if any other stores have customers that request these, essentially free foam for the dog to eat. Anyway, I've heard that dogs cannot digest cow milk.

Anyone else have a prediction for future stupid lawsuits against Starbucks?

[Barista19]

New Barista you can come work with me at my gay coffee house.By the way i am a girl but my best friends at the Bux are gay. I plan on buying a life size portrait of a male nude and will hang it in the entry way of my coffee house. That should have the silly stroller moms making a U turn!

[anon]

Can't the soccer moms just stay home and maybe clean their house? How about put on a little makeup or take their baseball cap/ponytail off. Do you not realize most of us are college students, some of us graduate students? We are not at all impressed with your Coach bag or Escalade in the parking lot. Get a life, go help someone(no i don't mean your childs sport team)

[JA]

I'm not going to weigh in on the issues of parenting or what temperature a kids drink should be, because I think they have been sufficiently beaten to death, but did anyone else notice that the alleged incident took place TWO YEARS AGO!

If it was that bad, why didn't they sue right away? Or better yet, make a U-turn and drive right back to the store where they bought the drink, while the baristas who made the drinks were still there, and get to the bottom of it right then and there? Can you imagine how hard it is going to be to get useful testimony for this case? My store has maybe two current employees who worked there two years ago, and there is only a small chance that one of them was even working that day, and even smaller that one of them was actually the one that made the drink. Not to mention the memory factor. If someone comes back to me five minutes after I made their drink to double check that it was decaf, I will probably make it again rather than trust my memory, even for a short term.

Okay, one thought on the temperature issue, too... This sounds like it would have to have been a hotter-than-normal hot chocolate. Maybe the article forgot to mention that the woman ordered a child's hot chocolate, and a tall 230 degree hot chocolate. Because it seems like it would have to be that hot to me to cause the kind of damage described in the article. I had a partner in training once push the "manual" steam button by accident, and by the time she noticed her mistake, the milk was bubbling and overflowing like crazy, and it burned her hand. But even she, burned by milk that was well beyond the allowable "extra-hot" range, directly out of the pitcher and not cooled by mocha or whipped cream or a cup or time, even she only had blisters on her hands. Granted, maybe a child's leg skin is more sensitive, but still, it seems like there is something more that we are not being told.

And we probably never will find out, because what barista is going to remember a specific drive-through customer from two years ago?

[Anna Mousey]

I about had a panic attack reading this. Thought maybe it was my store. But that's on the far far other side of Indianapolis from us. It's really unfortunate though, no matter who is the right or the wrong. Poor kiddo. People from Fisher's are too rich for their own good. Come down to the westside and work for a living...

[Jimmy Chang in NYC]

Halle, do you honestly think that baristas should know who the drink is for and who is going to drink it? And...they should ask who it is FOR?????
You have to be kidding! What is next for you? Baristas reading minds too?

Parents are responsible for everything that involves their snot nosed little ones. Enjoy your hot chocolate litte Johnny. Too bad your parent is a dope.
Next in line please!

[ZG]

Stupid suit, yes. But with all the confusion on this site from Starbucks employees, the plaintiff's atty is going to have a field day suing SB for lack of appropriate training as well.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

I think the police should go to the house. I think the parents are abusing the child, see those cigarette burn marks, oh no they were from a hot chocolate.

all you guys who are crying and whining about 'oooh those stupid customers orderin a hot chocolate in the drive thru" oh how dare they? actually ordering a hot beverage in our drive thru off our menu??? wtf??? If it is sooooo dangerous then why does Starbucks have a frickin drive thru in the first place??? yes it's called a hot chocolate...so big frickin deal...if you seriuosly think that any drink with the word "hot" is not to be served in the drive thru..then why dont you kindly ask pappa schultz to take it off the menu in the drive thru??? come on....furthermore...you do know the next phase is to increase the drive thru stores ..right???? more profit margin..less bitchy and whiny partners to have on staff..labor gets cut..more profit..sooo again please tell us your bright idea of havin the "soccer moms" not use drive thru...but actually walk into the cafe to order their kids hot chocolate..ok?...thank you....drive thru

all you guys who are crying and whining about 'oooh those stupid customers orderin a hot chocolate in the drive thru" oh how dare they? actually ordering a hot beverage in our drive thru off our menu??? wtf??? If it is sooooo dangerous then why does Starbucks have a frickin drive thru in the first place??? yes it's called a hot chocolate...so big frickin deal...if you seriuosly think that any drink with the word "hot" is not to be served in the drive thru..then why dont you kindly ask pappa schultz to take it off the menu in the drive thru??? come on....furthermore...you do know the next phase is to increase the drive thru stores ..right???? more profit margin..less bitchy and whiny partners to have on staff..labor gets cut..more profit..sooo again please tell us your bright idea of havin the "soccer moms" not use drive thru...but actually walk into the cafe to order their kids hot chocolate..ok?...thank you....drive thru