Subway

Subway

Basic information
Founded	1965-08-28
Legal Structure	Private
Industry	Food
Also known as
Official website	https://www.subway.com/en-us

Founded in 1965, Subway IP LLC is an American food restaurant specializing in submarine sandwiches with 20,127 locations in the United States.

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Subway category.

In September 1999, an increasing number of hepatitis-A cases began surfacing around individuals located in Northeast Seattle and Snohomish County Washington, resulting in health officials conducting an survey on infected individuals that resulted in 18 of 21 reported gaining Hepatitis-A at a Subway location by November 5. Later on, it was confirmed that 6 more individuals gained hepatitis-A after eating at two Subway locations. It is estimated that 40 people had became ill because of the outbreak, with some cases resulting in individuals being hospitalized, however most recovered from their illness.^[1]

This resulted in several lawsuits from affected individuals , with one containing 29 affected individuals reaching a $1.06 million settlement in 2000.^[2][3] Another lawsuit was filed in February 2000 by families members after Christian Decker (who was 6 at the time) was hit with Hepatitis-A after him and his family went to Subway in September 1999. Christian Decker was hospitalized at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center, where he had to obtain an liver and a undisclosed transplant, resulting in him being on immuno-suppressants drugs for the rest of his life. In a per-trial hearing, subway was denied exemption from the case, however the details surrounding the attempt remained unknown. Around June 2001, a $10 million settlement was reached that required the Doctor Association pay $6 million, Subway Northwest $2 million, and Thomas Sandstedt and Lisa Nguyen $2 million.^[2][4]

Mark Honeywell, attorney for subway, responded to the aftermath of the situation by saying "it's hard to find a more deserving plaintiff". He states that the company should've been exempt from the suit because the company had no control over the employees and have "only a contract for making inspections".^[4]

In 2013, several customers filed lawsuits against Subway product "Footlong" for being less than 12 inches, claiming they were believed to bought a product that 12 inches in length as advertised. Subway initially responded by saying the Footlong sandwich is only a name, not an measurement as its a creative license. Along with claims of the Footlong sandwich allegedly not being 12 inches, the plaintiffs also claims subways 6 inch subs are shorter than advertised due to employees cutting the Footlong in half.^[5]

The lawsuit reached a settlement in 2015, compensating customers who ordered between January 1, 2003 through October 2 2015 $500, and gave the plaintiffs $520,000 for attorney fees.^[6][7]

Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin filed a lawsuit against Subway in January 21, 2021 over the company's deceptive advertising practices regarding and a lab study conducted by Paul Barber showcasing Subways tuna being a mix of chicken, cattle, and pork. The plaintiffs claimed they were deceived into buying food items that lacked tuna.^[8] On June 7, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, alleging the company "misrepresents its products as %100 tuna". The case was dismissed with leave to amend on October 7, 2021, with the judge citing failure to" identify the specific representation that Subway made about the tuna".^[9][10][11]

The plaintiffs then made a second amended complaint, alleging subway tuna products are a mix of various animal and fish products due to the products lacking any trace of tuna DNA.^[10] Subway responded by claiming the tests was inaccurate, claiming it can come from cross contamination with other ingredients. The judge dismissed the case without prejudice on July 8, 2022, claiming a lack of evidence.^[12]

A spokesperson from subway responded to the dismissal, citing;

“The second complaint was rightfully dismissed by a federal judge. Our legal team has reviewed the plaintiffs’ newly amended complaint and has filed a second motion to dismiss this reckless and improper lawsuit. The fact remains that Subway tuna is real and strictly regulated by the FDA in the U.S. and other government entities around the world"

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/13/1111270816/subway-tuna-lawsuit

https://www.fox13news.com/news/judge-subway-can-be-sued-tuna-claim

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/judge-rules-subway-can-sued-claims-tuna-sandwiches-contain-fish-specie-rcna37707

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/subway-tuna-lawsuit-dismissed/

Estimated around June 3 2016, Shane Flaum purchased a turkey salad from Subway, receiving an receipt that showcased the expiration date and last 4 digits of his debit card number. A few days later, Shane Flaum filed a lawsuit against Subway for violating the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, seeking $1000 in damages for each illegal receipt over the last two years that covers more than five digits of individuals credit/debit card or expiration dates.^[13][14] On March 21, 2017, Subway reached a $30.9 million settlement compensating customers credit/debit card orders between January 1, 2016 and March 23, 2017, varying up to $52.92 per customer.^[15]

In June 2016, David Rahmany and Yehuda Rahmany filed a lawsuit against T-mobile and Subway after receiving a text message from T-mobile that reads; ""This T-Mobile Tuesday, Score a free 6 Oven Roasted Chicken sub at Subway, just for being w/ T-Mobile. Ltd supply. Get app for details: http://t-mo.co/ " The plaintiffs claimed it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, allegedly using an autodialer to spam T-mobile users an Subway 6-inch Oven Roasted Chicken sub advertisement.^[16] On September 8, the plaintiffs dropped their claims against T-mobile, however the motive remains unknown.^[17][18] The case is still in progress as of March 2026.

in April 2019, subway was sued by Marina Soliman for repeatedly sending promotional advertisements to customers regardless if they responded to opt-out with "stop". She claimed that through use of an automatic dialing system containing a list of phone numbers from customers, it constitutes as a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.^[19] The case was dismissed on July 18, 2022, claiming the Telephone Consumer Protection Act applies to randomly or sequentially generated phone numbers systems and "artificial or prerecorded voices" doesn't apply to text messages.^[20]

In 2019, Malka Fishman sued Subway and T-mobile for allegedly sending messages using automatic telephone dialing system from T-Mobile that contains Subway/T-Mobile promotional advertising. She claims she gave consent to receiving text messages from T-Mobile regarding its wireless telephone services, however she gave the company no consent towards receiving advertisement messages from subway. The court granted motion to denied several dismissals;^[21][22]

• Subway is found liable for sending messages via Automatic telephone dialing system
• T-Mobile was found to have an relationship with Subway
• Declared that Subway didn't send the messages, instead it was handled by T-mobile

As of March 2026, the case is still ongoing.

In 2021, Ryan Turizo filed a lawsuit against Subway for violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Florida Telephone Solicitation Act by sending text messages to customers without given consent via an computer automotive system. ^[23][24]The case is still ongoing as of March.

On October 28, 2024, Anna Tollison filed a lawsuit against Subway for engaging in deceptive marketing practices that advertised the product Steak & Cheese sandwich containing 200% more meat than customers received.^[25][26] As of March 2026, the lawsuit is still ongoing.

Main article: Subway footlong pass ineligibility

Despite Subway corporate requiring all franchisees to accept coupons, many of the independent stores deny the use through the Subway app and in-store.

• McDonald's
• Arby's