The scalding hot tea spilled into Michael Garcia's lap during a drive-thru handoff in 2023, leaving him with permanent damage to his genitals from the severe burns.

A Los Angeles man was awarded $50 million from a jury Friday in his case against Starbucks after he suffered life-altering burns when a cup of scalding hot tea spilled into his lap in 2020.

It happened at an Exposition Park drive-thru window, where Postmates driver Michael Garcia was awaiting a delivery on Feb. 8, 2020. When the barista handed him a tray full of drinks, at least one overturned. His noticeable reaction can be seen in security camera footage from inside the location at 1789 West Jefferson Boulevard.

“Starbucks says if our hands are off the drink, then no matter what happens, we’re not responsible,” said Garcia’s trial attorney Nicholas Rowley. “So, if I’m Starbucks and I hand you a drink that doesn’t have a lid that’s secured, and it’s a scalding hot, 180-degree drink, or if I hand you a drink that’s in a container and it’s loose and it’s not secured, and it falls right on you — the moment that I take my hands off of it, then you’re responsible and I, the corporation, am not.”