Genesis Monita had pulled into a parking space to eat when the barbeque sauce she was provided was so hot it caused her to drop the container.
SAN ANTONIO — Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic imagery.
A San Antonio woman was awarded $2.9 million after suffering major burns from hot barbecue sauce while eating at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q.
According to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Genesis Monita, she and her sister were visiting the barbecue chain’s location at Old Pearsall and Loop 410 to get breakfast tacos on May 19, 2023. Monita pulled into a nearby parking space to eat when the accident occurred.
“When Ms. Monita took the container of bar-b-que sauce it was so hot that it caused her to drop the container and spill the sauce on her right thigh, causing a second-degree burn,” the lawsuit says.
She suffered the injury on her upper thigh.
The lawsuit claimed Bill Miller employees were negligent when they gave her “dangerously hot” barbeque sauce, while not also providing a container that was “adequate” to contain the condiment or warning her of the temperature.
Monita’s lawyer, Lawrence Morales II, said Bill Miller’s policy is to serve their barbeque sauce at 165 degrees, adding they violated their safety policy by allowing it to be served instead at 189 degrees.
Morales continued to say Bill Miller also violated its policy by serving the sauce in a 4-ounce plastic cup rather than Styrofoam.
A jury awarded Monita $900,000 in compensatory damages and $1.8M in punitive damages on Friday, at the culmination of this week’s trial.