Frish Law Group Files Lawsuit Against Starbucks Over Cups Contaminated With Employee's Blood

VENTURA, Calif., Jan. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Frish Law Group (www.frishlawgroup.com) announced today they have filed a lawsuit against Starbucks Coffee Company on behalf of a California family as a result of an incident that took place at the Starbucks coffee shop located at 601 W. 2nd St. in San Bernardino, California. The clients, a California woman, her husband, her mother-in-law and their young daughter, were exposed to blood contamination on cups from this Starbucks location and are seeking damages based on (1) strict products liability – failure to warn; (2) strict products liability – negligence, (3) breach of express warranty, (4) breach of implied warranty, (5) fraud, (6) negligence, (7) intentional infliction of emotional distress, (8) battery, (9) assault, (10) negligent hiring, and (11) negligent training and supervision.  The family is represented by Frish Law Group attorney Stan Pekler.

On February 6, 2016, the family ordered several drinks from the Starbucks and had begun to enjoy them at home, when they noticed a red smear on the side of the white cup, along with a strong metallic smell. They then noticed the same kind of red stain on another cup which two family members, one of which was their young daughter, had already been sharing.  After confirming that no one in the family was bleeding, they called the Starbucks location to report the incident and confirmed that there was in fact an employee who was bleeding but had since been removed from the sales floor.

The family was extremely concerned after consuming the beverages contaminated with an employee's blood, particularly as a two year old child had shared one of the drinks.  The manager offered free drinks for a week, but the family felt it critical that the employee get a blood test to determine if he or she was HIV positive or had some other communicable disease.  While the manager agreed, the employee was not in fact forced to get the blood test. The family was then left to schedule their own blood tests, causing extreme distress for the parents as they had to watch their daughter be poked with a needle and agonizingly wait for the results.

Although there was temporary relief with the initial negative results, the family had to be retested six months later because it may take that much time for a person's immune system to produce HIV antibodies.  This caused the family stress, nervousness, fright, anguish, grief, anxiety, worry, and shock for several months while awaiting the second round of test results.

Under the circumstances, good faith negotiations with a view towards settling this matter were initiated. Starbucks offered $1,000 to each family member for their trouble; however, this does not begin to compensate the family for suffered injuries and damages for which Starbucks is liable.  Immediately upon learning they had consumed beverages that contained human blood, the family experienced suffering, as well as feelings of anguish, fright, horror, nervousness, grief, anxiety, worry, shock, humiliation, and shame.  They endured additional distress because Starbucks seemed to not care about their wellbeing and refused to direct the employee to undergo a blood test to ensure the family's safety.

The family suffered emotional injuries because a beverage sold by Starbucks contained human blood, which is clearly a manufacturing defect.  In addition, there was no warning directing consumers to examine their beverages for human blood prior to consumption.  Therefore, Starbucks is strictly liable for their injuries.

About the Frish Law Group

Frish Law Group is a Los Angeles based firm representing clients in matters related to business law, litigation, real estate law, personal injury law, landlord-tenant law and insurance claims.

www.frishlawgroup.com

CONTACT: 818-480-3885, [email protected]

SOURCE The Frish Law Group

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