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Subway was sued over its footlong being less than a foot long
https://www.whatjobs.com/news/usa/us-business-news/subway-was-sued-over-its-footlong-being-less-than-a-foot-long
By Hugh Fort in US business news, posted February 6, 2024
When you think of the actions of teenage boys, "taking sandwich giants to court" is probably not your first thought.
But that's exactly what Australian Matt Corby did when he decided he was getting ripped off by Subway over the brand's famous "Footlong" subs.
Corby was one of a number of people who took on the company after measuring his sandwich in 2013 and finding it was less than a foot long.
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He posted a picture on his Facebook page pointing out the discrepancy.
The lawsuit made it to court in 2016.
It argued Subway's marketing around the sandwiches was misleading because the sandwiches were not always the right length.
What Happened?
A settlement was reached where Subway agreed to certain measures to ensure the length of its sandwiches.
However, it faced criticism over the settlement.
It paid a huge amount out to the lawyers representing Corby and a number of other plaintiffs.
This dwarfed the amount paid to the people who raised the issue, who received just $500 each.
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Case was later thrown out
The case ended up in appeals court.
The court deemed it "utterly worthless" to the chain's customers.
Circuit Judge Diane Sykes said: "The settlement acknowledges as much when it says that uniformity in bread length is impossible due to the natural variability of the bread-baking process.
"Contempt as a remedy to enforce a worthless settlement is itself worthless.
"Zero plus zero equals zero."
The whole case was eventually thrown out, with the judges highly critical of the lawyers involved and their attempts to enrich themselves.
Afterwards, Subway said: "The Subway brand did not misrepresent its product. We stand behind our commitment to quality."
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