Subway Dodges Robotext Suit Over Free Lunch Campaign

Subway Restaurants Inc. can’t be held liable for text messages advertising a free sandwich because the plaintiff failed to show the company controlled the sending of the texts, a federal district court has ruled.

Plaintiff Matthew Warciak alleged that T-Mobile US Inc. sent a promotional text to thousands of its customers offering a free oven-roasted chicken sandwich from Subway. Warciak sued Subway under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which requires companies to get customers’ consent before making autodialed calls or texts.

But Subway didn’t send the texts, and Warciak didn’t allege that Subway had control over the quality, scheduling or ...