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Woman sues Chinatown restaurant over stay in burn unit caused by hot soup she says poured into her lap
By adamg on Mon, 10/28/2024 - 1:21pm
A Boston resident last week sued Pho Pasteur, 682 Washington St.. in Chinatown, for the way a meal there ended last month.
In a negligence suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court, Nathalie Murcia alleges she was finishing up a bowl of pho on Sept. 20 when she asked her server for some "fresh broth to go:"
Defendant's employee(s) failed to properly secure the lid of the soup container.
Defendant's employee served Plaintiff the soup in a container inside a paper bag, without the lid properly or adequately secured to the container holding the soup.
As a result, upon service to Plaintiff, the improperly or inadequately secured lid leaked soup into the paper bag, and caused the bottom of the bag to fall out and spill on Plaintiff's lap causing serious burn injuries.
The complaint alleges Murcia suffered permanent injuries because of the spill. On a cover sheet filed with the complaint, Murcia's attorney says she suffered "2nd & 3rd degree burns on groin and thigh area requiring in-patient stay at burn unit, skin grafting surgery" and that while her final medical costs are to be determined, they will total more than $50,000 - and that that does not begin to account for the pain and suffering, disfigurement, mental anguish and "loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life," she has suffered.
In the complaint, Murcia's attorney, who works for the law firm with billboards advertising that its number is 444-4444, apparently started thinking about the infamous coffee lawsuit, because after discussing pho, the complaint suddenly switches to several allegations about the restaurant's and employees' failure to adequately prepare "coffee" and even the "coffee cup" for handing off to their customer.
The restaurant has until Feb. 24 to respond to her suit.
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| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Complete complaint | 256.53 KB |
| Complete cover sheet | 195.31 KB |
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Comments
AI Law Firm
call 444-4444 to facilitate the finest filched filings for the future of your finances
LOL
LOL.. 444-4444 is basically a template number. If you google that number (minus an area code) you get pages of Personal Injury law firms all over the country. Most of which don't have 444-4444 listed as a contact number, so it must be something they all use to denote personal injury lawyers. (like a SEO entry in their website)
So basically she called that number and played spin the bottle and got whatever law firm answered.
And if the complaint went off on a tangent and started talking about the McDonald's Coffee Case.. I surely hope this woman didn't prepay in advance for services because she got ripped off.
Or search YouTube
Tons of ads, like this one: Hurt in a car? Call William Mattar. Now imagine that in a Boston accent.
Apparently, in Texas, though, people call 444-4444 to get a lawyer with a lion. And then there's this lawyer who offers to help you to not abort and murder your innocent fetus.
Thinking
I was thinking about this last night (dont ask why).. and I realized something. not sure if this is a coincidence or not but the law firm in LA Law was in the "4444 Building" in Los Angeles. (otherwise known as 4444 South Flower).
Funny. Probably a coincidence but still funny.
“It’s too hot
for soup”.
Murcia, Murcia, Murcia!
Sure, Jan!
Cover sheet?
Do you have a copy of the cover sheet with the complaint? From that description, it sounds like they maybe c/p'd more than just a few lines from the McDonald's complaint (which, it is worth reminding people, was correctly decided as they knew their coffee was unreasonably hot).
Added
It's now linked from the bottom of the story, so scroll up a couple of screens and you'll see the link.
Thanks!
The cover sheet seems very light on details - I'm looking forward to seeing the discovery on this one (if McCarthy/Murcia don't bully Pho Pasteur into settling, which seems to be their goal).
In the meantime, I know where I'm going for dinner!
My issue with the McDonalds
My issue with the McDonalds law suit was not the fact that the Coffee was served to hot, but rather that the victim attempted to remove the lid the coffee cup by compressing their legs together. Which cause the cup to break, as would would expect of a tak out cup. In this case, the victom knewthe soup was hot, but assumed it was safely inside a take out container.
Like you've never held
Like you've never held anything between your legs while fiddling with the top? I would recommend reading more about the case. She behaved in a manner completely consistent with a normal person trying to add cream and sugar to a takeout coffee while in a car without cup holders. Spilling coffee on yourself is an expected risk, but it should at worst result in a "ow ow crap" and not an extended hospital stay.
And multiple surgeries.
And multiple surgeries. Liebeck had 3rd degree burns in her groin area and had to get skin grafts. I can't imagine the pain of that. She lost her ability to walk within years because of the scar tissue, and had to have a caretaker. She was elderly but this was a direct result of her injuries.
McDonald's required that its franchisees keep their coffee at 180°. They knew this was so hot that it would cause third-degree burns within three seconds of skin contact.
https://www.poolelg.com/blog
https://www.poolelg.com/blog/the-truth-behind-the-mcdonald-s-hot-coffee-...
Keep in mind who wrote this
Keep in mind who wrote this defense of large lawsuit settlements: a personal injury law firm. Talk about a conflict of interest.
Who told you to put the balm on?
Hopefully she listens to her lawyers advice.
A contributing factor:
It was a PAPER bag. The proponents of plastic bag bans need to consider this consequence: requiring restaurants to package soup in a paper bag will inevitably lead to liquid leaking through the bag.