South Lake Tahoe, California — A family is suing Vail Resorts over their daughter’s life-altering burns from a spilled hot chocolate.
The San Fransico Chronicle reports that the family of a 5-year-old girl is suing Heavenly Mountain Resort (which is owned by Vail Resorts) over their daughter’s injuries suffered from a spilt hot chocolate.
During the 2023-24 season, the Burns family stopped by the Sky Deck. Brittany Burns ordered her daughter a hot chocolate at the to-go counter. The worker gave the drink to the girl, who immediately tried to take a sip. When the girl picked it up, she spilled it inside her ski suit. This led to the burning of her abdomen and chest. She was left permanently scarred from this incident.
The Burns’s are suing Vail Resorts for monetary damages, including medical expenses. The lawsuit alleges the resort’s conduct was “known, intentional, malicious, and without due care for the likelihood of injury.”
Legal Precedant
If you follow the news, this situation may remind you of a few other cases. The first is the notorious 1994 McDonald’s lawsuit, in which a woman won $2.86 million (later reduced to $640k) after she spilled too-hot coffee on her pants. The ruling stated McDonald’s made it too warm for consumption.
There was also a 2024 case in which Starbucks was forced to pay $50 million to a delivery driver after a worker failed to secure the lid, leading to a spill. That’s why I drink Dunkin’.
Whether these will factor in or whether ski resort liability waivers will help Vail is uncertain. Also worth considering is whether the word “hot” in the drink should have prompted the recipient and her family to exercise further caution.
We’ll see if a settlement can be reached beforehand, as it’s actually not going to trial until next winter. Vail Resorts hasn’t released a statement on the case, as it generally doesn’t discuss active litigation.
Image Credits: Ethan Walsweer, Heavenly Resort
