Who is Olivia Caraballo? McDonald held responsible after 4-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns from Chicken McNugget

After her kid received second-degree burns from a heated chicken nugget, a mother successfully sued McDonald’s. According to Philana Holmes, who testified before the jury, the McNugget from a Happy Meal fell on daughter Olivia Caraballo’s leg, causing burns to her upper thigh.

In a case that brought to mind the well-known hot coffee lawsuit from the 1990s, a jury in South Florida found McDonald’s and a franchise holder responsible for the occurrence.

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According to the South Florida SunSentinel, a second jury will decide how much money will be given to the girl and her mother by McDonald’s USA and Upchurch Foods, the franchise’s owner.

In her testimony, Philana Holmes claimed to have purchased Happy Meals for her son and her daughter, who was four years old at the time, at a McDonald’s in Tamarac.

Her kids were sitting in the backseat when she gave them the food. Holmes’s daughter began screaming as she drove away. The mother then noticed the burn on the girl’s leg and recorded audio pieces of the child’s crying while taking pictures on her iPhone. Olivia Caraballo, who is autistic, did not testify, according to the publication.

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The fast food giant, according to the mother, failed to inform customers about the “dangerous” temperature of the dish.

McDonald’s attorneys countered that the nuggets needed to be heated to prevent salmonella concerns. Additionally, they contended that the McNuggets were not intended to be compressed for longer than two minutes between a seat belt and human flesh.

However, the franchise owner was found guilty by the jury for negligence and failing to alert customers to the danger of heated food. In addition, they held McDonald’s USA accountable for failing to give instructions on how to handle food safely.

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An official from Upchurch Foods stated that the company was “deeply disappointed” with the decision.

“Our sympathies go out to this family for what occurred in this unfortunate incident, as we hold customer safety as one of our highest priorities,” McDonald’s owner-operator Brent Upchurch said in a statement. “We are deeply disappointed with today’s verdict because the facts show that our restaurant in Tamarac, Florida did indeed follow those protocols when cooking and serving this Happy Meal.”