CLAYTON — A family here is suing McDonalds’s after their son was severely burned by hot coffee, in circumstances nearly identical to a scalding spill that prompted a woman to file a now-famous lawsuit against the fast-food giant decades ago.
Katarina O’Reilly filed the suit this week on behalf of her minor son, who she said suffered second-degree burns on his legs and genitals in 2021.
Her attorney, Alex Wolff, said they hope to hold the company accountable.
“Someone got really badly hurt and we want to figure out why it happened,†he said.
Wolff said the boy, whose age was not disclosed, went with his father to pick up coffee for his mom before her work shift Dec. 5, 2021.
The two were in a McDonald’s drive-thru, at 15204 Manchester Road in Ballwin, when an employee handed the boy’s father two hot coffees, Wolff said. He placed them in the car’s cup holders and then took a drink caddy from the fast-food worker.
People are also reading…
As the father and son were putting the coffees into the caddy, one of the drinks spilled, Wolff said. The lid popped off and hot liquid fell onto the boy’s lap, burning his legs and genitalia, he said.
“The reason that this keeps happening is because these corporations make a calculus of how many incidents they can pay for and still make sure the coffee is hot,†Wolff said. “We look forward to finding out what McDonalds has to say about why their coffee needs to be served this hot and what happened with the lid.â€
The McDonald’s press office did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The suit blames the fast-food restaurant for serving too-hot coffee, not securing the lid and not training its employees properly. It asked for damages in excess of $25,000.
This lawsuit is similar to a well-known case against McDonalds dating back to the 1990s.
Stella Liebeck, 79, in 1992 suffered third-degree burns after she spilled hot coffee in her lap while sitting in a McDonald’s drive-thru.
She underwent several skin graft surgeries and eventually sued the company. A jury awarded her nearly $3 million in punitive damages, but a judge ultimately reduced the award by more than 80%. After that, Liebeck and McDonald’s reached a confidential settlement.
Her case became widely publicized and was often misrepresented as an example of frivolous lawsuits, with many people believing her burns were less serious and that she was driving when she spilled the coffee.
More recently, in May 2023, a jury found McDonald’s at fault after a hot Chicken McNugget from a Happy Meal fell on a little girl’s leg and caused second-degree burns in Florida.
The McDonald’s Corporation has been sued for personal injuries at least 29 times in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County since the 1980s, court records show.
In a similar case against another corporate giant, a delivery driver in March was awarded $50 million in a lawsuit after being seriously burned when a Starbucks drink spilled in his lap at a California drive-thru.
A Los Angeles County jury ruled in favor of Michael Garcia, who underwent skin grafts and other procedures on his genitals after a large hot tea drink spilled on him on Feb. 8, 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of April 20, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
