McDonald's Russia faces hot coffee case again

Russian woman burns her skin with McDonald's hot coffee and suffers first-degree burns

An investigating experiment connected with a lawsuit filed by Muscovite, Olga Kuznetsova, against McDonald's corporation is to be conducted at one of the company's restaurants in the Moscow region on June 15th. The claimant sued the fast food giant over a cup of hot coffee, which she spilled on herself while she was opening a heavy door of the restaurant on her way outside.

”We are going to reproduce the moment, when the claimant was leaving the McDonald's restaurant, holding a tray in her hands. There will be a cup of coffee on the tray during the experiment,” lawyer Maksim Dombrovitsky told Interfax.

The lawyer reminded that the hot coffee burnt Olga Kuznetsova's skin, and the woman decided to sue the corporation.

A Moscow court previously adjourned the hearing of Kuznetsova's lawsuit against McDonald's. The claimant evaluated the damage at 100 thousand 400 rubles, which is some $3,500. Olga Kuznetsova suffered first and second degree burns over the spilled coffee. The incident occured on May 5th, 2004.

According to the claimant, she was trying to open a heavy door of the restaurant, holding a tray in her hand. The door closed very quickly, and the claimant spilled the hot coffee on herself. The woman asked restaurant's employees for help, but the latter offered her a towel and some ice on account of the absence of medications.

”We believe that McDonald's violated consumers' right for safe services, which the law about the protection of consumers' rights guarantees. The absence of the first aid kit in the restaurant is also a violation of rules,” the lawyer said.

Spokespeople for McDonald's restaurant stated that there is a warning printed in the Russian language on every cup of hot drinks, which they sell in their chain. Svetlana Polyakova, the press secretary of McDonald's Russia, told Interfax that the administration of the restaurant had conducted a special investigation of the incident, which revealed no violations of consumers' security, Newsru said.