Woman Sues Dunkin' Donuts After Employees Laughed As Coffee Scalded Her, Court Docs Show

A woman in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, has sued the owner of a local Dunkin' Donuts and the store's employees over an incident from June where she was spilled with hot coffee and the employees laughed at her, court documents showed.

Angela Barbosa, of Brockton, is seeking $100,000 in damages from Pembroke-based Cadete Enterprises after she suffered severe burns and nerve damage from ordering at the drive-thru of the company's Torrey Street Dunkin' Donuts restaurant last June, local newspaper The Patriot Ledger reported, citing Barbosa's lawsuit that was filed in Plymouth Superior Court last week.

Barbosa was sitting in the front passenger seat of her sister's car as the siblings ordered three cups of hot coffee between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. that day, according to the suit. However, the cups spilled on Barbosa as the tray was brought into the car by her sister, attorney Charles Kazarian said.

The cups of hot coffee, which were either not properly capped or placed firmly into the tray, ended up "scalding [Barbosa's] legs and buttocks," Barbosa's attorney noted in the lawsuit.

Barbosa allegedly got out of the car while screaming and ripped off her leggings in the parking lot while in full view of the store's employees, who then proceeded to allegedly point, laugh and mock the woman.

"[N]ot only was she burned and in pain as a result of the employee's negligence, she suffered the indignity and extreme embarrassment of being laughed and mocked while in a very vulnerable and exposed condition," Kazarian said.

"The Defendants' actions were extreme and outrageous, beyond all possible bounds of decency and utterly intolerable in a civilized community," a portion of the document read.

Aside from suffering severe burns and nerve damage, Barbosa also had one of her backside moles surgically removed. Her scars appeared to be permanent, Kazarian pointed out.

Barbosa, who has incurred a $779.12 medical bill to date, is suing for negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Neither Kazarian nor John Cadete, who owns his namesake company, responded to requests for comment.

Cadete reportedly owns 60 franchise stores in southeast Massachusetts, which included Dunkin' Donuts, Meineke Car Care Center and Anytime Fitness.