A Texas woman, Genesis Monita, has filed a lawsuit against Bill Miller Bar-B-Q Enterprises, claiming she suffered second-degree burns when hot barbecue sauce spilled onto her lap. She is asking for $2 million in damages for the injuries she sustained. Her case is similar to the well-known McDonald’s “hot coffee” lawsuit, where a woman named Stella Liebeck was awarded damages after spilling hot coffee on herself, causing serious burns.
Monita says the barbecue sauce was dangerously hot when it spilled on May 19, 2023, while she was eating at the Bill Miller BBQ in San Antonio. She had ordered breakfast tacos with sauce, and as she took a container of BBQ sauce out, it was so hot that she dropped it, burning her right thigh.
The lawsuit claims that the sauce was served at 189 degrees, 20 degrees hotter than the 165-degree temperature it was supposed to be. Monita’s lawyer, Lawrence Morales II, argues that the sauce should have been served in a more insulated container instead of a small plastic one.
In court, Bill Miller’s attorney, Barry McClenahan, defended the restaurant, stating that their policy is to serve sauce at 165 degrees, the minimum required by food safety rules. He argued that Monita’s injuries were due to her own carelessness, as the sauce had always been hot in previous visits.
The case is ongoing, and the jury will decide if the restaurant’s actions were to blame for Monita’s injuries.
