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He’s got grounds for a suit.
An elderly New Jersey man is taking Dunkin’ Donuts to court over a cup of hot coffee that he says spilled on his lap and gave him second-degree burns — echoing a high-profile McDonald’s case from the 1990s.
Cosimo Nistico, 74, of Toms River said the lid on his black coffee popped off when a worker handed it to him in a drive-through window on April 27, causing the beverage to burn his inner left thigh, according to the lawsuit.
“I was scared as hell,” he told The Post. “I went to wipe my leg and my skin was coming off.”
“It almost burned by private parts,” he said. “Not one person came out to help me. It was BS.”
Nistico rushed to a hospital, where he was treated for “serious and severe injuries” that caused him “great pain and suffering,” according to the lawsuit, filed in New Jersey Superior Court on June 6.
His injuries are similar to the case of 79-year old Stella Liebeck, who in 1994 sparked a media frenzy when she sued McDonald’s over a coffee burn and won big bucks.
Though the case was cited at the time as an example of a frivolous lawsuit — and spoofed everywhere from “Seinfeld” to talk radio — Liebeck suffered third-degree burns over 16 percent of her body, including her inner thighs and genitals, according to the American Museum of Tort Law.
A jury awarded Liebeck, of New Mexico, $160,000 in compensatory damages and initially ordered McDonald’s to pay her $2.7 million in punitive damages. But the trial judge ultimately reduced that to $480,000.
McDonald’s had printed warnings on coffee cups, but her lawyer argued they should say how hot the beverages were — between 180 and 190 degrees.
Knowing a similar accident happened in the past, Nistico said Dunkin’ Donuts should print a larger warning on the cups, and fix their lids.
“They should have had a bigger warning label because it’s very hot,” he said. “Steam was coming out of my [car] seat. That’s how hot it was.”
“They should figure out why this lid is popping off,” he said. “I don’t want it to happen again to someone else.”
Nistico said his burn wound has since healed, but he was in pain for weeks.
“I was scared to open up the bandage — it was ugly,” he said. “Every night I had to sleep with a pillow between my legs.”
He declined to say how much in damages he’s seeking but said that, along with medical bills, “The mental part is [hard] enough.”
In 2014, New Jersey resident Jennifer Fragoso sued Dunkin’ Donuts for burns she said were caused by hot apple cider — and won $2.4 million.
Fragoso, who suffered burns on her thighs, also claimed the lid of the cup was not properly secured.
A spokeswoman for the firm said at the time that Dunkin’ Donuts hot drink cups display a warning that reads, “CAUTION: THIS BEVERAGE IS EXTREMELY HOT,” according to ABC News.
A Georgia woman also won $3 million from the firm in 2021 after allegedly being burned by hot coffee.
Dunkin’ Donuts didn’t immediately return The Post’s request for comment Wednesday.