Two New Jersey men sued Subway this week, claiming the world’s biggest fast-food chain has been shorting them by selling “footlong” sandwiches that measure less than 12 inches.
The suit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court in Mount Holly, N.J., might be the first legal filing aimed at the Milford, Conn.-based company since a Subway customer in Australia posted a photo of a “footlong” sub next to a ruler on the company’s Facebook page to allege that the sandwich was not as long as advertised.
Stephen DeNittis, the lawyer for the plaintiffs in the New Jersey suit, said he’s seeking class-action status and is also preparing to file a similar suit in Pennsylvania state court in Philadelphia.
He said he has had sandwiches from 17 shops measured, and every one came up short. The lawsuit claims it is a “deceptive practice for Subway to advertise its large sandwich as a ‘footlong.’”
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages and a change in Subway’s practices. The company should either make sure its sandwiches measure a full foot or stop advertising them as such, according to the suit.
“‘SUBWAY FOOTLONG’ is a registered trademark as a descriptive name for the sub sold in Subway Restaurants and not intended to be a measurement of length,” read a comment posted to Subway Australia’s Facebook page Jan. 16.
Prior to that statement, the company had told ABCNews.com that the size discrepancy was caused by the fact that the bread was baked fresh in each of the company’s 38,000 restaurants around the world.
“We are committed to providing a consistent product delivering the same amount of bread to the customer with every order,” the statement read. “The length however may vary slightly when not baked to our exact specifications. We are reinforcing our policies and procedures in an effort to ensure our offerings are always consistent no matter which Subway restaurant you visit.”
In response to the lawsuit, the head baker for Subway reiterated their commitment to 12 inches with each “footlong” sub.
“If proper procedures are followed, they will all measure 12 inches,” Mark Christiano told ABC News.
Read More... http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/01/subway-sued-over-footlongs-that-came-up-short/
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