On March 27, Alaska Airlines flight attendant Victoria Waldron's attorneys filed a civil complaint against Stumptown Coffee Corp in the Western District of Washington at Seattle, according to the lawsuit. The incident occurred on April 1, 2024, while Waldron was working on an Alaska Airlines flight bound for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona, a court filing states. About 30 minutes before landing, Waldron was brewing a custom coffee blend supplied by Stumptown that was designed to be consumed at altitude, the complaint says. An onboard coffee maker in the aircraft galley suddenly and without warning failed catastrophically, expelling scalding hot coffee, coffee grounds, and boiling water with explosive force, the lawsuit alleges. Waldron was struck by the expelled hot liquid and grounds, sustaining immediate and severe thermal burns to her chest and other areas of her body, the complaint notes. She now has permanent scarring and a persistent 'heat-triggered rash' and will need ongoing dermatological treatment and may have to get cosmetic surgery for the scarring, a filing indicates.
The lawsuit accused Stumptown Coffee Corp of supplying Alaska Airlines with a defective product that caused Waldron's injuries and failing to warn of potential risks despite many similar accidents with Stumptown's product, according to the complaint. Waldron's attorneys argued that her injuries were preventable because there had been ample signs that Stumptown's coffee blend was defective and prone to exploding, the lawsuit states. Stumptown had tested its custom coffee blend for taste at altitude but had not adequately adjusted or tested its packaging design for the low-pressure environment of a plane cabin, the complaint says. The low-pressure environment, combined with the unique heat cycles of commercial brewing equipment on planes, caused the packaging which had been designed for use at sea level to behave in a materially dangerous manner, the complaint adds. Stumptown was or should have been aware of that problem with its product, as on February 20, 2024, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) published a statement that said at least nine flight attendants had been burned by exploding coffee makers, the lawsuit alleges.
Stumptown Coffee Corp entered an agreement to supply Alaska Airlines with a custom coffee blend in 2023, and they began supplying the product on December 1 of that year, the lawsuit says. The negotiations for the deal took place in Seattle, where Alaska Airlines is headquartered, and Stumptown's in-flight products are supplied from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the lawsuit notes.