Not long after Jared Fogle admitted last month to being a child pornographer and child exploiter, serious questions surfaced about how much officials at Subway knew about their former pitchman’s actions and when they knew. A former Subway franchisee and a former journalist claimed that Subway took no action after they contacted the company with complaints about inappropriate comments Fogle made about children. On Friday, Subway announced that an internal review of over a million emails and interviews with current and past employees revealed that company officials had known as early as 2011 about Fogle’s attraction to children–but took no action.
Subway spokeswoman Kristen McMahon admitted that in 2011, the company received a complaint from former journalist Michelle Herman–also known as Rochelle Herman-Walrond–that Fogle had told her on numerous occasions that “middle school girls are hot.” McMahon added that while the complaint was “serious,” it did not imply “anything about sexual behavior or criminal activity” on Fogle’s part. Nonetheless, Subway admitted that Herman’s complaint “was not properly escalated or acted upon” at the time.
Herman said that she was prompted to contact Subway when Fogle made “inappropriate sexual comments” about her then-teenage children–some of which were so disgusting that there was “no word in the dictionary” for them. She also said that Fogle wanted to put cameras in her kids’ rooms. However, even his suggestion that “middle school girls are hot” should have been enough for Subway officials to at least look into the matter. Herman had the last laugh, however. She went to the FBI in 2011, and wore a wire and recorded several phone calls over the next four years. Based partly on this evidence, the FBI raided Fogle’s house in July, and obtained most of the evidence that led him to plead guilty.
Subway says that it has “strengthened its processes” regarding review of customer complaints. Sorry, not good enough. While saying “middle school girls are hot” is not itself criminal, it’s inconceivable that no one at either Subway parent Doctor’s Associates or at Fogle’s employer, the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust, didn’t realize that it was at least something to be looked into further. After all, Fogle had a lot of contact with kids over the years. You also have to consider that Herman’s complaint came right around the time that the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke in full. You mean to tell me that in light of this, no officials at least considered this merited a further look?
Anyone and everyone who knew about Herman’s complaint and failed to report it up should be fired if they are still employed with Subway. Period, full stop. Otherwise, I may have to think long and hard about whether to set foot in a Subway any time soon. I realize that all Subway restaurants are franchised. It’s not the individual owners’ fault that corporate headquarters has just admitted to a serious case of dysfunction. But when all the hyperbole is stripped away, that dysfunction may have allowed a child predator to remain at large unchecked for four years.
