Left: Subway Steak & Cheese in advertisement. Right: Same sub bought by woman suing Subway for false advertising (Tollison v. Subway).
A woman who came away disappointed with the amount of meat on her Subway Steak & Cheese sandwich has sued the company for what she calls “false and misleading” advertising.
Anna Tollison filed a federal class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York on Monday against Subway Restaurants Inc. and other subsidiaries on behalf of anyone who bought a Steak & Cheese sandwich in the Empire State between Oct. 28, 2021, through the filing of the suit.
“Subway materially overstates the amount of meat in its advertisements for the Product by at least 200%,” the lawsuit claims.
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Tollison points to several posts on social media with pictures showing people complaining about the amount of meat on various sandwiches. She says Subway’s actions are “especially concerning now that inflation, food, and meat prices are very high and many consumers, especially lower income consumers, are struggling financially.”
In her case, Tollison bought a Steak & Cheese on Aug. 23 at a store in Jamaica, New York. She says she ordered her sub based on the photos on the mobile app.
“After she picked up and began eating her sandwich, Plaintiff realized that there was barely any steak in the sandwich and that the photographs that she relied on were grossly misleading,” the lawsuit said.
The suit continues:
Plaintiff expected that the Steak & Cheese sandwich that she ordered would contain a similar amount of meat as contained in the photograph for the Steak & Cheese sandwich on Subway’s mobile ordering application. However, the photograph for the Steak & Cheese sandwich on Subway’s mobile ordering application contained well over 200% more meat than what was in the actual sandwich that Plaintiff received. If Plaintiff knew that the Steak & Cheese sandwich contained substantially less than the amount of meat as advertised, she would not have purchased said sandwich.
Plaintiff lawyers claim Subway violated the New York Deceptive Acts and Practices Act. They say that “thousands” of people who bought Subway Steak & Cheese subs in New York during the aforementioned time period could be eligible to join the lawsuit. The Russo Firm, based in New York, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Tollison.
Suing restaurants over what food looks like in photos compared to reality is not new. According to a Reuters report, the same law firm filed lawsuits against McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Wendy’s that were dismissed last year. A lawsuit against Burger King in a Miami federal court is ongoing.
Subway did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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