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Update:
- A California federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit alleging Subway deceived customers into buying sustainable tuna sandwiches that have no traces of sustainable tuna, although he declined to sanction the lead plaintiff’s counsel for misconduct during discovery.
- In an order filed Aug. 4, U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar granted plaintiff Nilima Amin’s voluntary motion to dismiss but denied Subway Restaurants Inc.’s request for six-figure sanctions against her counsel.
- Judge Tigar acknowledged Amin’s attorneys failed to meet discovery deadlines and provided improper and misstated legal documents; however he said Subway’s motion to sanction the attorneys sought punishment for meritless claims rather than misconduct.
- “Because Subway has failed to demonstrate that such pursuit constituted the knowing or reckless pursuit of a meritless claim, the court denies Subway’s motion,” the order states.
Subway tuna sandwich class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Subway slipped out of a class action lodged by California customers.
- Why: A judge dismissed claims Subway was falsely advertising the contents of its tuna sandwiches, but has allowed plaintiffs to file an amended complaint.
- Where: The lawsuit is pending in California federal court.
(Oct. 11, 2021)
Subway does not have to face claims it deceived customers into buying sustainable tuna sandwiches that have no traces of sustainable tuna — for now.
On Oct. 7, a California federal judge dismissed a Subway tuna lawsuit brought by plaintiffs Nilim Amin and Karen Dhanowa against the sandwich chain, saying the plaintiffs lawyers hadn’t adequately pleaded the allegations.
However, the judge — U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar — said the plaintiffs could refile the complaint if it was amended.
Noting that the Subway tuna lawsuit included references to irrelevant case material, Tigar pointed out that the Northern District of California was often referred to as ‘’the food court,’ and there is a lot of case law to cite in the circuit.
“When I see citations to an out-of-circuit case, I become suspicious,” he said, pointing to the fact the plaintiffs had cited 20-year-old false ad cases from other circuits.
Subway tuna lawsuit claims no fish DNA in sandwiches
The $5 million lawsuit, filed in Jan. 2021, originally alleged that Subway’s tuna sandwiches and wraps have absolutely no tuna in them, and accused the sandwich chain of fraud.
The Californians who filed the Subway class action lawsuit say “they were tricked into buying food items that wholly lacked the ingredient they reasonably thought they were purchasing.”
The lawsuit was filed after independent testing found that Subway’s tuna is a mixture of various concoctions that look similar to tuna, but in fact, is not tuna.
Later, the lawsuit was amended to allege that Subway had misled customers to believe they were buying Subway products containing sustainably farmed skipjack or yellowfin tuna, when they were not.
Despite the amended claim, Judge Tigar said the complaint in its current form failed to “identify the specific representation that Subway made” about the tuna. He dismissed the complaint with leave to amend
Subway’s Sandwiches Taken Apart in Legal Actions Challenging Its Authenticity
This is far from the first legal action challenging Subway’s sandwiches. Just last year Ireland’s Supreme Court ruled that Subway’s bread was not actually bread. Judges found that Subway’s “bread” contained too much sugar to be legally called bread, according to NPR.
Also in 2020, A Canadian judge authorized a class action lawsuit challenging Subway’s chicken sandwiches. This came after a 2017 CBC marketplace article that reported a DNA analysis revealed the chicken in Subway’s chicken sandwiches contained “50% of chicken DNA, the rest being made up of soy.”
The DNA analysis was reportedly performed by a researcher at a Trent University laboratory. Subway fired back with a defamation lawsuit against the CBC claiming its reporting was reckless and malicious. That part of the food fight ended with a judge ordering Subway to pay $500,000 in legal fees to CBC.
Have you tried Subway’s tuna sandwich? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!
The plaintiffs are represented by Shalini Dogra of Dogra Law Group PC.
The Subway Tuna Class Action Lawsuit is Nilima Amin, et al., v. Subway Restaurants Inc., et al., Case No. 4:21-cv-00498-DMR, in the United States District Court Northern District of California.
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149 thoughts onJudge dismisses 100% tuna class action against Subway
Add me please.
Add me please, what no fish in the tuna ??? I eat those alot
Add Me Please. Thank you!
Add me
Add me
Yes I often eat there. Lease add me and shame on subway!!
Pls add me.
add me
Didn’t know I wasn’t eating tuna. Add Me to the List
Add me I buy that tuna 3 times a week for my husband
Add me please