Woman sues Krispy Kreme, cup maker over spilled coffee

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and a cup manufacturer are the subjects of a negligence lawsuit filed by a woman who said she was burned severely when some coffee fell on her lap. <br> <br> Linda Gail Smallwood, 34, received second-degree burns on her left leg when a Krispy Kreme drive-through employee dropped the cup of coffee onto her in August 1999, according to a lawsuit filed this past week in Guilford County Superior Court. <br> <br> ``She was horribly injured,&#39;&#39; said Jeffrey Peraldo, Smallwood&#39;s attorney. <br> <br> Smallwood, of Greensboro, is seeking more than $10,000 in damages against Krispy Kreme and Dart Container Corp. of Georgia, the cup&#39;s manufacturer, according to the suit. <br> <br> Dart Container is also to blame because it negligently designed the cup and failed to inspect it, the lawsuit contends. <br> <br> A Krispy Kreme spokesman said he couldn&#39;t comment on matters under litigation. Kevin Kennedy, an attorney with Dart Container, said he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment on it specifically. <br> <br> ``If our products had been negligently designed, we&#39;d be seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of lawsuits each year,&#39;&#39; Kennedy said. ``We do not.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The employee at the Greensboro store dropped the cup while passing it through her car window, the lawsuit says. <br> <br> Krispy Kreme, based in Winston-Salem, operates 230 stores throughout the country.

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