Tea May Have Put Them in the Soup

The Hardee’s fast-food chain is in legal hot water over a cup of tea.

Stephanie Washington-Bey has filed a $150,000 lawsuit against Hardee’s Food Systems Inc., contending that she suffered second-degree burns when she spilled a cup of Hardee’s tea on her leg.

The incident occurred Jan. 24 at a Hardee’s in Baltimore.

“The tea which was prepared and sold by Hardee’s was defective and unreasonably dangerous at the time of its sale,” according to the suit in Baltimore Circuit Court.

Alleging that the chain was negligent because the tea was too hot, the suit seeks compensation for medical expenses and lost wages.

Officials at Hardee’s headquarters in Rocky Mountain, N.C., were unavailable for comment Sunday.

Leonard C. Redmond III, a Baltimore attorney, said normal hot tea would not have caused the type of burns that his client suffered.

“I don’t know exactly what the temperature of the tea was,” he said. “It may have been superheated.”