Kathleen McLaughlin, the ex-wife of former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle, has sued the sandwich chain alleging they knew about his criminal predilections as far back as 2004.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Indiana, McLaughlin says that a senior Subway executive was notified in 2004 that “Fogle had approached a young girl at a Vegas promotional event and solicited a sex act.” She alleges the then-senior vice president of marketing who received the complaint sent a PR flack to interview Jared and the owner of the specific franchise where the incident took place.
McLaughlin says in the suit that she never would have married Fogle had the company made the complaint public (the pair were wed in 2010), and says Subway was fully aware of the allegations when it made an animated commercial featuring her and her kids in 2015.
The suit also alleges that Subway received at least two more complaints in the ensuing years, one in 2008 and another in 2009. In the 2008 complaint, a woman franchise owner allegedly told then-CEO Jeff Moody that Fogle had told her he enjoyed having sex with young minors. And the company has already admitted that it improperly handled a complaint from Florida reporter Rochelle Herman-Walrond, who notified the company’s corporate office after Fogle allegedly asked her if he could install hidden cameras in her children’s bedrooms.
Fogle remained the face of Subway throughout, until his arrest last summer. He is currently serving a 15-year sentence after he was convicted on charges of possession of child porn and sex with minors. According to reports, he has gained all the weight back while behind bars.
McLaughlin is seeking unspecified damages as part of her suit.