A family plans to sue Applebee’s after they say their 17-month-old was severely burned by steaming water at a location in the New York City borough of Queens, according to KTLA sister station WPIX in New York.
Cadien Scott Gaffney suffered second degree burns in the Friday incident, according to Kourtnei Patterson, a spokesperson for the family, after the family requested hot water to sterilize utensils.
When the server brought it to the table, the toddler was able to pull the hot water onto himself, according to Patterson.
“The baby was just screaming,” Patterson said.
His mother tried to take the smoking clothing off of him, but skin came away, Patterson said.
“This is a family restaurant. They should have known better,” Sanford Rubenstein, the family’s attorney, said. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
A spokesperson from the Applebee’s franchisee sent sister station WPIX the following statement:
“We are truly saddened by this accident and our thoughts are with the child and family. After a thorough investigation and review of security footage and call logs, we are confident that our team members acted with urgency, calling for medical assistance while helping the family. We were unable to obtain the family’s contact information onsite but would like to assist in any way that we can as we continue to cooperate with authorities. As always, the safety of our guests is top priority.”