MIDDLEBURG, Fla. — A Jacksonville-area woman is suing the Chick-fil-A in Middleburg. Her attorney said she suffered severe burns after the soup she order spilled on her lap.
On Aug. 2, 2022, Emily Clark went through the drive-thru at the Chick-fil-a in Middleburg. She ordered a 12-count of nuggets, a bowl of chicken noodle soup, and a large Coke. Clark's attorney, Jordan Redavid, said Clark took the nuggets out of the bag, but realized they were greasy. He said she then reached back into the bag to get a napkin.
"That's when the contents of the entire bag, most notably the entire bowl of chicken noodle soup, spilled all over her abdomen, groin, legs, thighs, and name it," Redavid explained.
Redavid said Clark suffered severe burns from the soup. In a complaint filed Tuesday, Redavid alleges the soup was 'unreasonably' and 'dangerously' hot, and Clark was not given a verbal warning about the temperature. The complaint also claims the assembly of the contents in the bag was a liability with the napkins on the bottom of the bag under the food.
"We're dealing with a situation where my client is reaching for a napkin, a napkin should be an innocuous, benign, completely safe product to handle. But in order to access the napkin, it's at the bottom of the bag wedged beneath the full bowl of soup, and then the chicken nugget box, even if you assume that chicken nugget box is removed, at this point, my client should be able to reach into a bag and grab a napkin without risk of an entire bowl of soup spilling on her,” Redavid explained.
Redavid acknowledged this is not a situation that is unique to Chick-fil-A. He said this highlights a larger problem in industry standards of food packaging and temperature control at fast food chains. He also noted many of the food handling procedures come from the corporate office.
The lawsuit was filed against the owner of the franchise in Middleburg, JTAJE LLC, and the Chick-fil-A Corp. First Coast News reached out to the lawyers for the franchise owner as well as the corporate office for comment, but did not get a response.
Redavid, who was the attorney for the family of a South Florida girl who was burned by a McDonald's chicken nugget, said a big question for this case is how can a corporation mitigate the foreseeable jostling and moving of a carry-out container that prevents the contents inside from spilling on the consumer.
"This is not a case where my client is trying to eat soup, open the soup, or manipulate the soup while driving. Not at all. The soup just happened to be in the bag. And frankly, we believe and that's what we're alleging, it was in the way of the napkins, which again, should be something that consumers should reasonably be able to grab without being subjected to burn," Redavid said.
According to Redavid, Clark is still dealing with lingering affects from the burns. He said he hopes this suit will lead to change and prevent other people from being hurt.
"I think Ms. Clark would be the first one to tell you that part of the mission in bringing lawsuits in general and having the bravery to withstand the scrutiny, and public commentary by people that cast aspersions, is to do it, not just for yourself, but for the greater good, and to raise a level of awareness and hopefully just maybe change the industry," Redavid said.