Fogle's ex-wife alleges Subway knew of his 'depravities'
INDIANAPOLIS — Subway executives were notified at least three times that former pitchman Jared Fogle had a sexual interest in children and had exploited them, but failed to act, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges.
Instead, the lawsuit says, the international sandwich franchise ignored the complaints, promoted Fogle as a family man and sent him to speak with children as part of the company's educational initiatives.
The lawsuit that alleges widespread institutional negligence and harm comes from the person who seemingly knew Fogle best: his ex-wife, Kathleen McLaughlin. Yet McLaughlin claims that she did not know of Fogle's child exploitation. The complaint says she never would have married him had Subway reported allegations against Fogle to the authorities.
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Attorneys for McLaughlin filed a lawsuit against Subway on her behalf in Hamilton Superior Court on Monday. Fogle is serving nearly 16 years in a federal prison for child pornography convictions. IndyStar has reached out to Subway for comment, and has not yet received a response.
"I filed this lawsuit because I have questions," McLaughlin told reporters in a teary statement on Monday afternoon in the Noblesville office of her attorneys at the firm, Church, Church, Hittle + Antrim.
McLaughlin said her main focus is getting answers about what Subway knew about Fogle's sexual interest in children, and when they knew it. But she is also requesting an unspecified amount of damages.
Subway turned Fogle's family into a marketing tool, the suit says, and used their likenesses without their consent.
"Subway's ambition for sales and growth" came at expense of Fogle's wife and children, the suit alleges.
As early as 2004, Subway's senior vice president of marketing was told that Fogle approached a young girl for a sex act at a Las Vegas Subway event. Subway sent a public relations manager to ask Fogle and a franchisee about the incident. Subway did not contact the girl and did nothing more, the suit alleges.
In 2008, the suit alleges, Cindy Mills, a franchisee in Florida, told former Subway CEO Jeff Moody that she had a disturbing conversation with Fogle in which he told her he had sex with minors and liked them young.
In 2011, the suit says, a Florida journalist made a complaint through Subway's website, reporting that Fogle told her he was interested in children.
In those cases, the lawsuit says, the company sent public relations officials to speak with Fogle, but took no further action.
In the 2008 instance, the lawsuit says, Mills reported that Moody told her: "Please don't tell me any more. Don't worry, he has met someone. She is a teacher and he seems to love her very much, and we think she will keep him grounded."
Moody referred to McLaughlin, who married Fogle in 2010. The pair had two children, who are now 3 and 5 years old.
"To the victims of my ex-husband, you are never far from my thoughts and prayers," McLaughlin said on Monday. "I can only imagine what you have been going through. A mother's most basic instinct is to protect her children, and this is one of the most horrific of crimes."
McLaughlin said her young children often ask her questions about prison. When they get older, she said, she expects they will continue to ask questions about their father, and what McLaughlin alleges was an institutional failure on Subway's part.
First a household name because of his story of extreme weight loss, Fogle last year became known instead for his exploitation of children and use of child pornography.
A federal judge in November sentenced him to 15 years and eight months in prison after he pleaded guilty to possession or distribution of child pornography and traveling across state lines to have commercial sex with a minor.
The case became a national media story in July 2015 when law enforcement officers raided Fogle's Zionsville, Ind., home.
Follow Madeline Buckley on Twitter: @Mabuckley88.
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