Some like their coffee black, some with cream and sugar, but the one ingredient no one ever asks for, no matter how strong they hope their cup is?
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Cleaning solution.
A Greenwich, Connecticut man is suing Starbucks after claiming that a coffee he was served from the chain last August was chock full of Urnex’s Urn and Brew cleaner.
Per court documents obtained by TMZ, Matthew Mitchell picked up a black cup of coffee from Starbucks last summer and immediately drank it when he started feeling pain and burning. He took off the lid of the cup to see a blue solution in place of coffee.
Mitchell claims that the staff at the Connecticut location of the chain told him that his coffee had been served by a new employee who didn’t realize that they were making the coffee in a machine that had just had the cleaning treatment run through it.
“Our baristas take great care in crafting beverages and providing a safe experience for our customers,” Starbucks told TMZ in a statement. “We take this obligation seriously and are reviewing Mr. Mitchell’s claims.”
Related: Man Awarded $9.4 Million After Being Served a Glass of Sanitizer Instead of Water at Cracker Barrel
The lawsuit alleges that Mitchell is suffering from anxiety and fear over what potential long-term effects of ingesting the chemical may have on him and is seeking an undisclosed amount of money for the psychological damages as well as aid in paying his medical bills. It also claims that a similar incident has happened to at least two other customers in the past.
Mitchell is being represented by Joe Tacopina, a high-profile attorney who has represented Alex Rodrigues as well as contentious clients like Joran van Der Sloot, regarding the disappearance of then-student Natalee Holloway in Aruba.
A similar incident occurred to a man named William Cronnon in April 2014 in a Marion County, Tennessee location of Cracker Barrel when he was served household cleaner Eco-San instead of water.
Cronnon sued the restaurant and won earlier this year. He was awarded a whopping $9.4 million in damages.
“While we have great respect for the legal process, we are obviously disappointed by and strongly disagree with the jury’s award in this case, which involved an unfortunate and isolated incident that occurred at one of our stores eight years ago,” Cracker Barrel said in a statement at the time. “Although we are considering our options with respect to this verdict, we are glad this matter is behind us so we can better focus on caring for our guests and employees around the country.”
Starbucks nor Mitchell have spoken out further on the lawsuit.
The coffee chain was down 17.39% year over year as of Thursday afternoon.