Riffat Qureshi, a 36 year-old doctor and "professional model," is suing Starbucks, alleging that she was scalded on her belly when a barista slid a cup full of boiling water along a counter, shouting—perhaps unwisely—"Catch the cup."

But! Is anything ever so simple in the dark and twisted world of Starbucks, where coffee itself is but an illusion? Nay. For Starbucks itself tells a different tale of the Case of the Scalded Stomach. From the New York Post:

Starbucks has accused Qureshi of faking her injuries from the alleged July 2006 incident, with a lawyer saying that the woman's physician testified that he diagnosed her with a rash and skin infection.

Gunslinging barista menaces innocent model doc? Or crooked con preys on progressives with brash rash zoot suit? I don't know, but people sure are interested in anything that has to do with Starbucks.

[NYP. Photo via]