Sub Case May Be Moving Along

— A federal lawsuit claiming Subway sandwiches are shorter than advertised may be moving again.

Vincent Gotter sued Subway in Washington County Circuit Court contending he bought sandwiches that didn’t measure up in January from a Subway in Springdale.

The lawsuit names Doctor’s Associates Inc. of Little Rock doing business as Subway. It seeks class action status to represent all customers who bought sandwiches at the fast-food chain in Arkansas during the past three years. Claims include violation of the state Deceptive Trade Practices Act for misrepresenting in advertising the size of the subs being sold.

Doctor’s Associates got the case moved to federal court in Fayetteville, saying issues of diversity of residence and the amount of potential damages trigger federal jurisdiction.

Legal Lingo

Multidistrict Litigation

A case management procedure in which a federal panel transfers numerous civil cases involving one or more common questions of fact to one federal district court which then coordinates and oversees pretrial proceedings, signs off on settlement of some cases, and dismisses others. Remaining cases are sent back to the original court of filing for trial. The procedure works well when plaintiffs nationwide file lawsuits alleging the same issues against the same defendants.

Source: nolo.com

The company asked for a stay in proceedings to see if this case and six others around the country making similar claims against Doctor’s Associates will be transferred and consolidated in one federal court and heard by the same judge. The motion to stay was granted Thursday afternoon.

A federal judicial panel is expected to decide soon on the consolidation. The request was filed Feb. 15.

A stay will preserve the resources of the courts and the parties and avoid inconsistent decisions on pretrial issues, according to the motion.

“Assuming these actions are transferred and consolidated before a single district court, it is typical for the transferee court to direct that a single consolidated amended complaint be prepared, allowing (the company) to answer and otherwise respond once, rather than multiple times,” according to the motion.

Doctor’s Associates said it’s a Florida corporation with its principal place of business in Connecticut.

The company disputes any improper marketing or sales practices.

Subway has been hit with a number of lawsuits around the country and in Australia from customers claiming their footlong subs don’t measure a full 12 inches.

The company recently issued a statement saying it was taking steps to make sure sandwiches are uniform in length. Subway has said the term footlong is a registered trademark used to describe its sandwiches and is not intended to be an actual measurement of length.

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