A Wawa convenience store

The family of a small child who allegedly suffered severe burns from hot water at a Wawa convenience store has agreed to a $3 million settlement of the suit in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

The settlement, approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne Bongiovanni on March 30, calls for payment of $2,550,000 to the child, to be split between a trust and an annunity, and another $450,000 to her mother.

The child, identified in court papers as N.K., was 3 years old when she was injured during a visit to the Wawa store in Neptune, New Jersey, with her mother on April 25, 2018. The mother, Roya Konzman, selected two cups of hot water for tea along with several other items and brought them to the register, where a clerk, who was ringing up the order, knocked over one of the cups of water. The top came off the cup and hot water splashed all over the upper body, arms and torso of N.K. She suffered second- and third-degree burns over 15% of her body.

The suit claimed the hot water, which came from a Cecilware water dispensing machine, was dispensed at a dangerous temperature that would immediately cause burns if spilled on flesh. The suit claimed Wawa knew of the hazard and acted with disregard for the safety of its customers. The injured child's mother also sought compensation for emotional distress that was caused by witnessing the injuries to her daughter and the pain and suffering they caused.

Wawa claimed in its answer to the complaint that, to the extend that its hot tea was served in a hazardous condition that caused the child's injury, the condition was "open and obvious." Wawa also claimed that negligence by the child's mother should bar or limit recovery and that the mother's failure to properly supervise the child should be considered a cause or contributing factor in the accident.

The case prompted talk radio station New Jersey 101.5 to compare the suit against Wawa to the 1994 New Mexico case where McDonald's was ordered to pay Stella Liebeck $640,000 after she spilled hot coffee on her lap.

But the lawyer for the Konzman family, David Mazie, of Mazie, Slater, Katz & Freeman in Roseland, New Jersey, told the radio station that his case rested on a different legal theory from the one in the McDonald's case. That's because the child's injuries were caused by the negligence of an employee, Mazie said. The attorney told the radio station in an interview that water from the Wawa water dispenser was 180 degrees, compared with 104 degrees in a typical shower.

In the order approving the settlement, Bongiovanni signed off on the payment of $14,908 in expenses, $597,150 in legal fees and a health insurance lien for $36,460 from the child's portion of the settlement, with the remaining $1,901,482 being split between a support trust and a structured settlement annunity.

The judge also approved costs of $2,631 in expenses and $149,123 in legal fees from the mother's portion of the settlement, leaving her with net proceeds of $298,246.

Mazie declined to comment on the settlement. Wawa's lawyer, Betsy Ramos of Capehart Scatchard in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, did not respond to a request for comment. Wawa also did not respond to a request for comment.