A San Bernardino man is suing Starbucks, claiming the coffeehouse chain should pay after a barista at an L.A. store allegedly did not "chill his espresso" with ice before putting it into his coffee drink, leaving his mouth "burning like a thousand suns" when he took his first drink of the beverage.
The alleged incident occurred April 23 at a Starbucks café in Paramount, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Kyler Russell, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, asked for his espresso shots to be chilled, the suit said.
"The female employee asked what Plaintiff meant by that, and he stated that he wanted cubes of ice to chill the Espresso," the suit alleged. "Plaintiff then sat down and waited."
The barista completed the espresso and called Russell's name, the suit said.
"Plaintiff asked if it was okay to drink and the employee said 'yea,' so Plaintiff drank some of the beverage and immediately spat it out
as it burned his mouth so badly," the lawsuit states. "The barista who took Plaintiff’s order then apologized and stated that she was overwhelmed and
forgot to put the ice Plaintiff requested.
"... No one came to Plaintiff’s help. The café’s employees just kept talking amongst each other and then finished Plaintiff’s other drinks. Seeing that no one would help, Plaintiff left with his tongue burning like a thousand suns," the lawsuit said.
Russell "could not eat, talk or even sleep in comfort for days," the lawsuit said. "His doctor advised that he eat cold foods and take oral numbing
medications. Plaintiff was physically and emotionally injured by this incident."
Russell seeks unspecified monetary damages, plus attorney fees.
He is represented by attorney Alaric-Lorenzo Kisob, of the Kisob Law Firm in Los Angeles.
Russell v. Starbucks Corp. et al., U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 5:23-cv-02209