Customer Fights Fat Reward for Lawyers in Subway Short-Sandwich Lawsuit
In a lawsuit over Subway's "footlong" sandwiches that don't measure up, CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) on Tuesday challenged a proposed class action settlement that awards attorneys $525,000 but leaves the class with nothing.
“The lopsided Subway class action settlement benefits only the lawyers and amounts to a flagrant violation of rules meant to protect people,” said CCAF attorney Adam Schulman.
The class action lawsuit alleged that sandwiches sold by the Subway restaurant franchise over a decade didn’t quite measure up to "footlong” marketing claims. Though Subway says it made changes to its measuring and inspection practices as a result of the litigation, the company had already pledged to make changes immediately after the controversy gained attention in early 2013 and before most of the litigation was even filed. The changes include: keeping a measuring tool (read: ruler, measuring tape or unusually long protractor) to measure bread length, along with monthly restaurant inspections that “include a sampling of the baked bread to ensure it is at least 12 inches long.”
The 10 named class representatives in the lawsuit will receive $500 each in the settlement, but unnamed class members will get nothing more than a sense of satisfaction that some sandwich bread will be hand measured.
Subway customer Ted Frank is the objector in the settlement challenge. He is also founder and director of CCAF, which represents class members against unfair class action procedures and settlements. CCAF has won millions for consumers and shareholders and won landmark precedents that safeguard consumers, investors, courts, and the general public.