A Texas BBQ chain is being forced to pay $2.9 million to a customer, who was burned by “dangerously hot” sauce.
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According to the San Antonio-Express News, the incident occurred in 2023 when San Antonio resident Genesis Monita suffered second-degree burns after spilling Bill Miller Bar-B-Q’s “dangerously hot” sauce on her right thigh.
Court documents revealed that on May 19, 2023, Monita and her sister went to Bill Miller at Old Pearsall Road and Lopp 410 to get breakfast tacos before heading to school. After purchasing the meals through the drive-thru, Monita pulled into a parking space so she and her sister could eat.
Monita claimed the barbecue sauce was so hot that it caused her to drop the container. The sauce then spilled through her ripped jeans, leaving a nasty burn on her right thigh.
The jurors awarded Monita $900,000 for past and future mental anguish as well as physical pain and impairment. She also received $25,225 for medical care expenses and $700 in lost earnings.
They then decided that Bill Miller should pay punitive and compensatory damages. Monita received an additional $1.9 million.
The jury verdict included $25,000 for Monita to have a procedure done to remove a scar left by the burn.
Jurors agreed that the Texas BBQ chain was negligent in giving Monita “dangerously hot” barbecue sauce and not providing a container “adequate” to hold the condiment. It also failed to warn her that the sauce was extremely hot.
The Texas BBQ Chain’s Hot Sauce Was Heated to 189 Degrees, Well Above the Usual 165 Degrees
It was further revealed that the sauce Monita had spilled was 189 degrees, above the 165-degree spelled out on the BBQ chain’s policy.
However, the company’s lawyer, Barry McClenahan, argued that 165 degrees is a “minimum” temperature to comply with safety standards, and the company does not have a policy prohibiting the sauce from being heated to 189 degrees.
The jurors didn’t buy the justification and assigned full blame to Bill Miller.
Meanwhile, Monita’s attorney pointed out that a similar incident occurred in 2021 at the same restaurant when a woman burned her abdomen after spilling barbecue sauce. Following that incident, he accused the company of not changing its business.
“The reality is they will change nothing,” Morales said. “[They say], ‘It’s not unreasonably dangerous. Only two people have been harmed.’ How many more people (have to be harmed)? Well, a lot more people. That’s what the answer is.”
In his closing argument, McClenahan noted that the company now distributes two ounces of sauce in a 4-ounce plastic cup to help prevent spills. There have also been no other incidents of customers being burned by the sauce.
“If that’s unreasonably dangerous, then we’re all in trouble,” he added. “We have a duty for our own safety. All of you agreed. That is still true. Just because something happened to us doesn’t make it someone else’s doing.”