On a Thursday, a Jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida ruled that a McDonald’s was liable for a four-year-old girl suffering a second degree burn while eating hot chicken nuggets. The lawsuit was filed by the girl’s parents, Philana Holmes and Humberto Caraballo Estevez, after the girl suffered the burn on her leg from the chicken nugget stuck in a car seat.

          The couple sued both the McDonald’s Corporation and the franchisee, Upchurch Foods. While both companies claimed they were not at fault, the jury, however, argued that they failed to put warnings on the food, but the claim did not find McDonalds guilty over the incident.        

          As the parents were both pleased with their daughter’s voice being heard, both the  Mcdonald’s and Upchurch food franchise begged to differ over the verdict. Both the Upchurch foods franchisee and the McDonnalds cooperation issued a statement over the incident explaining how they “take every complaint seriously and certainly those that involve the safety of (their) food and the experiences of (their) customers.”

Because this was an unfortunate incident, they still “respectfully disagree with the verdict.” the Upchurch foods franchisee states that the staff is “deeply disappointed with today’s verdict because the facts show that our restaurant in Tamarac, Florida did indeed follow (the intended) protocols when cooking and serving (the family their) Happy Meal.

Family attorneys said that the couple did receive negative public backlash based on a lack of understandings throughout the case. The Firm added that there was no genuine dispute that a Chicken McNugget was the cause of the child’s second-degree burn. Cohesively, there was no definite evidence that McDonald’s cooks their Happy Meals for the intended reason to be able to burn a child.