Ticked-off Starbucks customer sues for $114 million

It seemed a little ridiculous a few years back when McDonald's was slapped with a lawsuit because it served coffee that was too hot. But this one might be a new low--a lawyer is suing Starbucks for $114 million because the Seattle-based coffee chain wouldn't take his client's coupon.

Last month, Starbucks e-mailed printable coupons for free "grande" drinks to employees, encouraging to pass them on to friends and family. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea. We all know by now that the Internet can make just about anything spread like wildfire, and indeed, the forwarded coupon didn't exactly stay within the "friends and family of employees" category. Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people who showed up at Starbucks locations nationwide demanding free drinks, the company began to turn them away.

Considering the size of a company like Starbucks, and how much they normally charge for their drinks (it ain't cheap), the coffee retailer probably could've been a little nicer to the hordes of customers who thought they were entitled to coffee gratis. But $114 million in a fraud lawsuit for what appears to have been just a dumb mistake? That's just pushing it.