Cop given free coffee at Starbucks sues company for burns he suffered



RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A police officer who got a free cup of Starbucks coffee is suing the company for $50,000 after he spilled it and got burned.

WRAL-TV (http://bit.ly/1GXc10R ) reports attorneys said in court Monday that Raleigh officer Matthew Kohr should be compensated for burns, blisters and emotional damage caused after the officer spilled the coffee in his lap in 2012.

Kohr says in the lawsuit the lid popped off the coffee he ordered at a Raleigh Starbucks and the cup collapsed.

Kohr claims the incident caused such severe stress that it activated his Crohn's disease, which resulted in surgery to remove part of his intestine.

An attorney representing Starbucks argued in her opening statement Tuesday that it was Kohr who was negligent and that it was his pre-existing condition that caused his problems.