Family sue Starbucks after allegedly serving drink containing barista’s blood

Not quite the sweet taste they were hoping for

A family is suing Starbucks for allegedly serving them a beverage that contained a barista’s blood.

When Amanda Vice and her family visited a branch of Starbucks in San Bernardino, California, they weren’t bargaining on having a little something extra added to their drinks.

It wasn’t until they returned home with their drinks that they realised something was amiss.

“My mother-in-law went to go take a drink of the cup, she put it to her lips and she could smell the blood,” Amanda told KTLA.

Amanda and her husband Louis noticed that there was a red mark on the side of one of the cups and that it notably smelt like blood.

They then realised that their two-year-old daughter had been drinking from another cup with a similar stain on the inside of the rim.

The youngster had even been licking the lid and eating whipped cream from the cup, none the wiser that her drink had been seemingly contaminated.

Amanda and Louis Vice realised that their two-year-old daughter had been drinking from a cup with a red stain on the rim (KTLA)

After ascertaining that no members of the family had been bleeding, they contacted Starbucks to inform them of what had happened.

According to a news release summarising a 19-page lawsuit issued by the Frish Law Group, a Starbucks employee had in fact been removed from the floor that day due to bleeding.

The family’s main concern was organising blood tests to ensure that none of them had been infected.

They asked for the manager of Starbucks to arrange for the employee to have a blood test so that they could determine whether the individual was HIV positive or carried any other disease.

However, despite offering the family free drinks for a week, the employee at the centre of the controversy wasn’t forced to have their blood tested by Starbucks.

The family were forced to sort out their own blood tests, which involved having a first round of tests and then another six months later.

Fortunately, the first round of blood tests came back negative for the whole family.

The Vice family don't think they've been treated fairly by the coffeehouse chain (KTLA)

Starbucks has offered $1,000 (£716) to each family member concerned.

However, the family and their attorney Stan Pekler do not believe this amount of compensation reflects the torment that they’ve endured.

The news release states that the family underwent extreme emotions of “anguish, fright, horror, nervousness, grief, anxiety, worry, shock, humiliation, and shame,” and so they want to be compensated accordingly.

When reached for comment, a representative from Starbucks told The Independent:

"We take great pride in ensuring our customers have a good experience and any time they are not satisfied, we work diligently to make it right.

"We've been working directly with the family to find a resolution since they informed us of their alleged experience two years ago.

"It was a surprise to learn about the lawsuit and the news release their legal team distributed with these allegations.

"We are fully prepared to present our case to the court in this matter."