Burned When a Disposable Cup's Lid Came Off: Product-Defect Claims in Pennsylvania

Attorney Answer

You may have a product claim against the company that made or sold the cups, if the lids and cups in that package do not fit together as made. Pennsylvania lets a person hurt by a product sold in a defective condition recover from its maker or seller, and the leftover cups and lids are your best evidence that the problem was in the product, not in how one lid was put on. Keep the package and everything in it. What a claim is worth depends mostly on how serious the burn was.

When a product is defective. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held in Tincher v. Omega Flex, Inc., 628 Pa. 296, 104 A.3d 328 (2014) that an injured person may prove a product was in a defective condition in either of two ways: by showing it was more dangerous than an ordinary consumer would expect, or by showing that its risks outweighed its usefulness. Whether a product was defective is ordinarily a question for the jury. Lids that do not stay on the cups they are sold with are the kind of thing the first test is about; whether the problem was in the design or in that batch is for the evidence to show, and a claim does not have to choose at the start.

What the company would argue. A maker may say the injury came from how the product was used, not from a defect. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held in Reott v. Asia Trend, Inc., 618 Pa. 228, 55 A.3d 1088 (2012) that a defense based on the injured person's highly reckless conduct must be raised and proved by the company, and defeats the claim only if that conduct was the sole or superseding cause of the injury. That is why the rest of the package matters: lids that do not fit cups no one has used yet answer the argument that you put yours on wrong.

The deadline. 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524:

The following actions and proceedings must be commenced within two years:

(2) An action to recover damages for injuries to the person or for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another.

What you can do

1. Keep the package, every remaining cup and lid, and the receipt if you have it. Do not throw them away or use them up testing them.

2. Get the burn treated, keep the records, and photograph it as it heals.

3. Write down where and when you bought the package, and what was in the cup.

4. Do not send the product to the company before talking to a lawyer; you may need it as evidence.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Pennsylvania attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A lawsuit for an injury must be filed within two years under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524(2). A lawyer can tell you how it applies to your situation.