Allegheny County Courthouse
PITTSBURGH – A Pittsburgh bartender who says she was struck in the eye when a Miller Lite bottle exploded has filed a lawsuit.
Jacqueline Mackowski filed suit against Molson Coors and Brentwood Distributing last week in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas over her injuries. She was working at the Tequila Cowboy Bar & Grille in July 2024 when she grabbed a customer a Miller Lite.
“As Jackie went to open the Miller Lite bottle, the bottlecap exploded off of the bottle and struck Jackie in her left eye, causing her serious injuries and the loss of vision in her left eye,” the suit says.
Injuries alleged include a ruptured globe, a corneal laceration, hemorrhage, left eye redness, sensitivity to light, headaches, decreased vision and severe emotional distress. Mackowski seeks compensation for pain, suffering, lost wages and medical expenses.
Molson Coors is alleged to have known that too much gas in the bottling of its beers could create pressure inside that would cause a bottle to explode. It was “unreasonably dangerous to its intended and foreseeable user.”
Brentwood Distributing is also blamed for the incident. It sold and delivered a bottle in a defective condition, the suit says, and Brentwood also failed to warn Mackowski and others of the risks of handling Miller Lite.
Douglas Olcott of Edgar Snyder & Associates represents the plaintiff. It’s not the first time Miller Coors has faced allegations one of its products was dangerous, though in 2015 it successfully stopped the case of a New York bartender blinded by a Coors Light by challenging the plaintiff’s experts.
One expert was set to testify the bottle wasn’t thick enough to withstand a fracture, but a federal judge said he never produced data that showed thinner bottles are more susceptible.
