Jared Fogle's Ex-Wife Claims Subway Knew About His Interest In Children

Megan Friedman
Updated

From Delish

Former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle's ex-wife has sued the fast-food chain, saying the company knew of allegations he was a pedophile but did nothing to stop him, using him and his family as a marketing tool while hiding his "depravities."

The Indianapolis Star reports that Katie McLaughlin is seeking unspecified damages from the suit, which accuses Subway of negligence, intentionally inflicting emotional distress, and using her and her family's likeness improperly. But she said in a press conference Monday she is mainly suing Subway to get answers about what the company knew and when they knew it. She said she tried to find information privately to no avail.

Her lawsuit claims that Subway received three reports that Fogle had a sexual interest in children, but the company didn't take action as early as 2004. (That was four years before Fogle and McLaughlin started dating.) Instead, they just had a public relations worker talk to him, and the company kept him on as a spokesperson and even let him spend time in elementary schools. Subway has admitted in the past that the third report against Fogle was "not properly escalated or acted upon." "The safety of kids was not a priority but Subway's bottom line was," McLaughlin's complaint argues.

McLaughlin claims Subway cared more about sales and growth than about Fogle's family, even using their likenesses of them without asking for permission. That was an attempt to rebrand Fogle as a "family man" when his weight loss story became "stale" with consumers.

According to the New York Daily News, Fogle spent 15 years as Subway's spokesperson after he claimed the sandwiches helped him lose 200 pounds. But last year, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for possessing child pornography and having sex with a minor. Subway fired him after his arrest, and McLaughlin announced she was filing for divorce hours before he made his first court appearance.

"Finding out that your husband and the father of your children is a child predator and knowing that his job involved him visiting schools on a regular basis is devastating," McLaughlin said at a press conference, according to The Daily Beast. "Finding out that Subway did not act upon at least one complaint while continuing to utilize Jared as their spokesperson and facilitate his visits to those hundreds of schools is beyond comprehension." Subway declined to comment on the pending legal matter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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