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MONTREAL — A woman burned by hot soup at a Tim Hortons restaurant has been awarded $69,455 after a 10-day trial in Superior Court.

Former city of Montreal employee Lucie Laflamme, 58, had sued Groupe T.D.L. Ltd. and franchisor 9023-9997 Québec Inc. for more than $2 million, claiming that one spoonful of scalding cream of potato and bacon soup bought in 1998 had caused her years of pain, loss of taste and depression which left her unable to work.

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[U]ntil 2004, when the franchisor became very rigorous about ensuring these temperature records were properly completed every four hours, the practice of completing these records was very inconsistent

She said the restaurant and franchisor knew or should have known that the soup was excessively hot and constituted a danger.

The franchise operator said it had done nothing wrong and the soup was served at a standard temperature for the industry, but was unable to provide records detailing soup temperatures on the day in question, something it was supposed to take down manually.

“The evidence confirms that the majority of restaurant employees were young and that until 2004, when the franchisor became very rigorous about ensuring these temperature records were properly completed every four hours, the practice of completing these records was very inconsistent,” Judge Mark Peacock wrote in an 85-page ruling.

He said hot soup is a “potentially dangerous product” and the restaurant had an obligation to caution the customer. Laflamme, for her part, could have minimized the inconvenience by taking a small sip or blowing on the soup, he said.

In the end, he decided on an award of $33,333 for damages (with interest as of 1999) and $36,121 for costs, saying Laflamme had failed to established a clear link between the burn and the depression.