Hot Sauce
As I’ve mentioned in several previous articles, my buddy, Timmy, is the pit master of our crew. His smoked brisket and pulled pork are better than anything I’ve ever had at a restaurant. Plus, he and his wife make their own homemade barbecue sauce, which is to die for.
Timmy’s sauce also has just the right amount of heat. Bill Miller Bar-B-Q’s sauce, however, is arguably too hot.
Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, the family-owned restaurant chain was founded by Bill Miller in 1953 and today has 75 locations between the San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Austin areas. The restaurant serves its barbecue sauce hot – the company’s policy states that their sauce is a minimum of 165 degrees when it’s served.
Genesis Monita, a 19-year-old woman from San Antonio, though, claims one day in May of 2023, it was too hot. Monita went through the drive-thru at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q on her way to school to pick up some breakfast tacos. When she took the 4-ounce plastic cup of sauce out of the bag, the container was so hot she accidentally dropped it on her leg. It was determined that the sauce was 189 degrees that day, which caused Monita to sustain second-degree burns on her right thigh.
In response, Monita sued the chain in October of 2023, in Bexar County, Texas, claiming the restaurant was negligent in its handling of the allegedly “dangerously” hot sauce. Monita argued that failing to warn her of the excessively hot barbecue sauce was a primary factor in her injuries. She asserted that the burns caused physical and mental pain, physical impairment, disfigurement, medical and psychological expenses and lost wages.
Lawrence Morales II, Monita’s attorney, argued that the restaurant’s staff violated policy when they failed to serve the sauce in a Styrofoam container, as was typical as per the food chain’s safety guidelines. Further, the restaurant violated their critical saftey protocol of serving the barbeque sauce at a temperature of 189 degrees, 54 degrees higher than the state’s guidelines of 135 degrees. Morales claimed Monita had eaten the sauce previously “a hundred times” and that each time she did it was “the same temperature.”
Barry McClenahan, Bill Miller Bar-B-Q’s attorney, explained to the court that the chain’s policy is to serve their sauce at a minimum of 165 degrees – the restaurant does not have a policy against heating the sauce hotter than 165 degrees.
McClenahan argued that Monita’s own negligence was the primary cause of her injuries, echoing the fact that she had eaten the sauce a hundred times. “At Bill Miller’s, the sauce is always hot, and our customers know that,” he stated. “What would we have warned Ms. Monita of that she did not already know?”
Apparently, the jury, consisting of six men and six women, disagreed. Earlier this year, Monita was awarded $2.8 million, which included more than $25,000 for medical expenses and $900,000 for past and future mental anguish, physical pain and impairment. Finally, they awarded her $1.9 million in punitive damages because Bill Miller Bar-B-Q was “grossly negligent” by serving sauce so hot without adequate warning.
Since the case was decided, Bill Miller Bar-B-Q menus and takeout bags now contain warning labels about the temperature of their food and sauce. The labels read “CAUTION: CONTENTS ARE HOT” in bold black lettering on a yellow background.
My New Year’s Resolution this year was to eat more salads and less barbecue. But then my plans took a turn for the wurst.
Reg P. Wydeven
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