Teenager Awarded Millions In Lawsuit After Suffering Burn From BBQ Sauce In Texas

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A teenager in Texas has been awarded a sum of money after being burnt by a condiment that would make Kramer from Seinfeld incredibly jealous.

According to court documents seen by FOX 26 Houston, in May 2023, 19-year-old Genesis Monita ordered breakfast tacos with a side of BBQ sauce from Bill Miller Bar-B-Q Enterprise. BBQ sauce on breakfast tacos is an interesting choice, but to each their own.

Anyways, after taking the sauce out of the bag, she dropped it on her leg due to the temperature of the container and sustained a second-degree burn.

In October 2023, Monita filed a lawsuit against the Texas restaurant, and this past Friday was awarded $2.8 million by a 12-person jury.

If being handed $3 million for a second-degree burn sounds outrageous, that's because it is, and the breakdown of the payment adds to the absurdity.

A teenager in Texas has been awarded nearly $3 million after being burnt by hot BBQ sauce at a Texas restaurant chain. (Getty Images/Creative)

More than $25,000 was paid for medical expenses following the injury, which seems fair given the cost of a hospital visit and anything done to the wound after the fact. Here is where it gets a bit bonkers.

A whopping $900,000 was awarded to Monita for "past and future mental anguish, physical pain and impairment." Bill Miller Bar-B-Q Enterprise, a franchise with 75 locations, was found to be "grossly negligent" by the jury, awarding Monita $1.9 million in punitive damages.

The restaurant can appeal the ruling, and one would imagine it will, but nothing has been filed as of Sunday, according to FOX 26.

Anytime you see a story like this, you start playing the ‘what would you do for x-amount of money’ game in your head, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say 99.9% of the human population would take some hot BBQ sauce to the leg for a $2.8 million payday. 

I wonder if Monita polished off the breakfast tacos despite being in pain, or if breakfast tacos without BBQ sauce is a deal breaker?

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets, including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016, when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.