McDonald's will pay $800,000 to the family of a girl who was burned by a hot nugget

A jury in South Florida has awarded $800,000 in compensation to a little girl who suffered serious burns when a hot Chicken McNugget fell on her foot as her mother was pulling away from the restaurant drive-thru.

The lawyers for the family of Olivia Caraballo, who was 4 years old when the accident happened in 2019, demanded $15 million in damages. The jury reached a verdict after deliberations that lasted less than two hours, the South Florida SunSentinel reports.

The jury ordered compensation of $400,000 for the past four years and an additional $400,000 for the future from McDonald's USA and its franchise operator Upchurch Foods. In May, a separate jury ruled that the company and the franchise owner were liable for an injury that occurred outside a McDonald's restaurant in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale.

"I'm just happy that they listened to Olivia's voice, and the jury was able to make a fair decision," Olivia's mother, Philana Holmes, told reporters outside the courtroom.

"I'm happy with that. Honestly, I had no expectations, so it's more than fair for me," she added.

Holmes testified that she had bought Happy Meals for her son and daughter, who were sitting in the back seat and driving when the food fell on the child's foot. According to her, the girl screamed in pain, and when the woman stopped in the parking lot, she realized that the nugget was stuck between Olivia's thigh and the seat belt.

The mother testified that McDonald's never warned her that the food could be so hot. The company argued that it complies with food safety regulations that require McNuggets to be hot enough to avoid salmonella poisoning.