A Delta passenger is suing the airline after he alleges a flight attendant poured coffee on his lap. As reported by the New York Post, he said the "overheated" drink caused burns to his right leg.
63-year-old Frank Morello had boarded his flight home to JFK International from Puerto Rico in October 2025 when he alleged the incident occurred. He described the coffee as "dangerous" due to its alleged scalding temperature.
His alleged injuries were described by his lawyer, Michael G. LoRusso, as follows. He said his skin had "immediately began to blister" and ended up being permanently scarred.
"It must have been pretty hot," LoRusso explained. "And when you're serving it, you have to be super careful." He also claimed he didn't receive "any kind of treatment" for what happened until after the plane came back to JFK.
Neither LoRusso nor Morello noted the amount of damages they are seeking in court. However, if we look at other, similar cases, we can get a grasp on the amount he might be pining for.
LoRusso added, "It was an accident, yes. But he got hurt."
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This Isn't the First Coffee-Related Lawsuit
Another similar case happened just one year ago, in July 2025, according to the New York Post. A couple sued Scandinavia Airlines after "excessively" hot coffee had spilled on Amyara Corbo's lap.
Aymara and her partner Giuseppe Corbo had been flying from Copenhagen to Oslo when the alleged incident happened. They were on their way to a cruise around the British Isles when the injury occurred.
They claimed the incident left her with "severe burns, pain, suffering," as well as "scarring and cosmetic deformity".
The incident also left them "pretty much room bound", according to their lawyer, Jonathan Reiter.
And, of course, we can't forget the iconic McDonalds lawsuit that happened over 30 years ago now. It was lauded a lot in the press - Stella Leibeck ended up winning $2.7 million dollars in court after receiving third-degree burns from coffee heated to 190 degrees.
In any case, this sounds like a pretty serious lawsuit. We hope that the truth is revealed and justice takes its course as needed.
