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Five Million Dollars Of Class-Action Silliness
Subway is under great scrutiny over the advertised length of the famous “footlong” sandwich compared to the actual sandwich length. A picture posted on Facebook by an Australian teenager holding a ruler next to his sandwich proving that the “footlong” sub was only 11 inches, instead of a foot long, went viral in early January. Shortly after, millions saw the picture. Lawsuits in Chicago, New Jersey and even California were filed.
“This is no different than if you bought a dozen eggs and they gave you 11 or you bought a dozen doughnuts and they gave you 11,” said attorney Tom Zimmerman, who represents Nguyen Buren in the Chicago case. “Here, you bought a dozen inches of sandwich and you got less than 11. It's no different, and yet you're paying for 12.” Zimmerman seeks class action status, $5 million in damages, and wants to contact the attorney representing the New Jersey Subway case to combine their cases and file in federal court.
“This case is about holding companies to deliver what they promise,” said DeNittis, who represents the two New Jersey men in their deceptive trade practices lawsuit. DeNittis claims they measured sandwiches from 17 different franchises, and all failed to measure up. DeNittis also seeks class action status and damages in the excess of $5 million.
A lawsuit was also filed in federal court in Sacramento claiming Subway comes up short on their promoted sandwiches. Richard Springer's lawsuit claims the company that owns Subway violated California's unfair competition law, committed false advertising, fraud, negligent misrepresentation among other claims. The lawsuit states “In truth, Defendant's 'Footlong' subs are not one foot, or 12 inches, in length.” Further, it states, “Had Plaintiff known the true size of the Subway 'Footlong' subs, Plaintiff would not have purchased and/or paid as much for it.” Springer is being represented by the Beverly Hills law offices of Todd Friedman and Chicago-based attorney Michael Agruss. Agruss issued the statement “At first glance, some may read the complaint and think it's not important that the sandwiches are only 10 to 11 inches. However, if you crunch the numbers, Subway is shorting consumers about 10 percent of what they advertise.”
Ben's Response
I interviewed Todd Friedman, a friend, about this case. You can watch the video (it's very cool and was actually broadcast live at the Ben Glass Law website) and find the actual lawsuit at SubwayLawsuit.com.
In my view, these cases are no place for a lawsuit. Here are my suggestions
1. If you go to a Subway store and don't like the sandwich they give you, give it back.
2. If your box of a dozen eggs only has 11 eggs, don't buy it. (Doesn't everyone always check what's inside the eggs carton to make sure they aren't broken?)
What's next, lawsuits against mom and pop pizza shops whose “14-inch pizza” is only 12? (Give it back?) Do we all take rulers to the ballpark to measure the foot-long hot dog? Are the (already overpriced) draft beers really 16 ounces?
Such silliness gets my dumb lawsuit of the month award.
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