Ontario Woman Sues Tim Hortons After Drive-Thru Tea Spill Resulted In 'Horrific' Injuries

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An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit against Tim Hortons for having allegedly suffered "horrific injuries" and "severe" burns after spilling her tea on herself in a drive-thru.

73-year-old Jackie Lansing ordered a black tea from the Tim Hortons menu in Huntsville, Ontario on May 18, 2022. According to the lawsuit, the "superheated" and "scalding" drink resulted in the cup collapsing in on itself and the liquid spilling onto her legs and stomach.

"As a result of the Incident, Ms. Lansing’s sustained severe, painful and permanent injuries, including 2nd-degree burns (...) extensive damage to her stomach and legs (...) fluid-filled blistering of the skin, puss accumulation and skin sloughing. The injuries have left and will leave severely disfiguring and visible scars," reads her claim.

The claim states that she had to be taken to the emergency room after the incident.

The lawsuit filed by Lansing and her family seeks a total of $500,000 for various reasons including pain and suffering, the loss of enjoyment of life, and various past and future expenses related to her alleged injuries.

"Nobody deserves to have something as horrific as these injuries [were] occur for the crime of ordering a cup of tea," said Toronto lawyer Gavin Tighe with Gardiner Roberts LLP, who is representing Lansing, in an interview with Narcity. "There's got to be some limit. We all accept the fact that we can spill our coffee and you might get a burn, but nothing like this."

Burns to Lansing's stomach and legs. Gardiner Roberts LLP

The claim accuses Tim Hortons of negligence specifically for the cup malfunction and the temperature of the tea that was served to Lansing, and also refers to the tea as "a hazard rather than a beverage."

In a statement of defence, Tim Hortons legal representatives deny all allegations and referred to Lansing as the "author of her own misfortune," and called her alleged injuries, "the result of her pre-existing or subsequent medical conditions, injuries, trauma, accidents, or circumstances."

"We're into an issue where we're going to large corporation probably backed by an insurer and this is all about money," said Tighe, as he referred to Tim Horton's response as a "typical defence." "But, at the end of the day, it isn't all about money because it's about people and well-being and injuries that can be frankly avoided."

Woman Sues Tim Hortons For $500K For Second-Degree Burns From Spilled Tea #shortswww.youtube.com

One clear avenue this lawsuit is going to pursue is whether Tim Hortons is cutting costs when it comes to the kind of cups it uses.

"I know that the difference between the cups that the various outlets have is pretty dramatic," said Tighe, as he referred to McDonald's coffee cups as "paper thermoses."

"I suspect that there is a pressure to reduce costs in terms of cup production and there is a clear business interest in terms of lowering the cost of the product you're producing," Tighe said. "There's also a commercial reason why you want to put out good products because you don't want to injure people because you don't want to get sued."

Tighe explained that from here, the goal is to take this case to trial, but he admitted that's something that won't move along quickly, by any means.

"It will take quite a bit of effort to get it to trial,' said Tighe. "We know what we're up against here. The message is received loud and clear that this will be an uphill battle."