Who is George Latorre? Lawsuit filed as American Airlines flight attendant spills ‘scalding’ coffee on passenger, damaging his tattoo
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: George Latorre had a nightmarish flight while traveling with American Airlines.
On October 9, he suffered “severe and permanent injuries” while traveling from Vietnam to New York after a flight attendant spilled ‘scalding’ hot coffee on him, damaging his tattoo.
The Pennsylvania resident has now filed a lawsuit against the airlines and claimed the incident has resulted in “second degree [burns] to his upper left arm; blistering; peeling, bleeding; possible permanent cosmetic deformity and scarring,” to his left arm, reports New York Post.
How severe are George Latorre's injuries?
According to the complaint filed in Manhattan state court last Thursday, October 19, Latorre was sitting in seat 33J next to his son on the flight when a flight attendant began serving him coffee.
She was “careless, reckless, and negligent in serving scalding coffee to the plaintiff in an unsafe manner.”
It further blames American Airlines, for allegedly “failing to hire and retain competent personnel and employees.”
The injury has caused the passenger “extreme pain and suffering” and “emotional harm, mental anguish and distress.”
Latorre has also experienced “loss of sleep” due to the pain caused, for which he had to go through medical treatment, as per the lawsuit.
Similar lawsuits filed in the past
In an unrelated incident, an elderly woman in California sued McDonald’s when a hot coffee spilled on her.
Mabel Childress, with the help of her attorney, filed five lawsuits, where it was claimed that their employee ‘failed to tightly secure the lid on the coffee cup.
My restaurants have strict food safety protocols in place, including training crew to ensure lids on hot beverages are secure,” Peter Ou, the franchisee owner of the McDonald’s on Fillmore Street, wrote via email to Fox.
“We take every customer complaint seriously – and when Ms Childress reported her experience to us later that day, our employees and management team spoke to her within a few minutes and offered assistance,” Ou continued, adding “We’re reviewing this new legal claim in detail.”
Meanwhile, Mabel’s attorney Dylan Hackett said, “The lawsuit Mable filed is important as it [is] her hope that coffee served in the future will be served at a proper temperature, the lids be placed properly and securely and that when future customers have complaints – they will be attended to promptly.”
“Defendants McDonald’s Restaurants of California, Inc, and Does one to 10 owed a duty to the Plaintiff and breached the duty of care by improperly securing the coffee cup lid which caused her to suffer from severe burns and emotional distress,” the complaint stated.
“Defendants’ negligence was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiff’s injuries," the complaint added.