POSTED NOV 11, 2014 03:35 PM CST
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A California woman is facing a felony insurance fraud case after being accused of falsely claiming that she was burned when the lid came off a cup of hot coffee at a fast food restaurant drive-thru in Fontana.
Selena Edwards, 38, is alleged to have sent faked treatment documents and burn photos from a hospital website in a bid to get $10,000 from McDonald’s Corp., authorities said. Although she received no medical treatment for the claimed injury to her hand last year, she was paid $2,000 by an insurer for the restaurant, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Associated Press and the L.A. Now blog.
Officials in San Bernardino County investigated and charged Edwards after insurance company workers became suspicious.
The claim comes 20 years after an iconic personal injury case in which 79-year-old Stella Liebeck won a $2.9 million judgment against McDonald’s over hot coffee that spilled onto her lap and scalded her at a drive-thru in Albuquerque, New Mexico.