Subway Responds to Department of Justice Settlement
Questions Raised on Secrecy of ADA Agreement Negotiations
MILFORD, Conn. (Blue MauMau) - Although Subway could not offer anyone to give an interview regarding its recent Settlement Agreement with the Department of Justice over alleged violations of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), it did issue a statement today through Les Winograd, Public Relations Coordinator of Subway Restaurants:
At Subway Restaurants, providing our visitors with an enjoyable dining experience in a safe and welcoming environment is important to us.
Doctor's Associates Inc. (DAI), the franchisor of the Subway restaurant chain, and its affiliate, Subway Real Estate Corp. (SREC), are pleased to announce that they have reached an agreement with the Civil Rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
This accord will help assure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in both existing and future Subway restaurant locations. DAI and the SREC will work with the Department on a continuing basis to improve ADA compliance standards and Subway restaurant access for people with disabilities. To help achieve these goals, Subway field personnel will be trained to evaluate in-store ADA issues, and look for new restaurant locations that are accessible for disabled individuals. DAI and SREC will continue to remodel existing locations to meet and exceed ADA requirements and will fund an interest-free remediation loan program for Subway franchisees to facilitate these positive changes.
According to the agreement, the DOJ had conducted an investigation of only eighteen restaurants in four states after receiving complaints from disabled customers. Subway currently has approximately 20,000 franchised units in the U.S. Although the settlement had been mentioned in Nation's Restaurant News magazine several weeks ago, few seemed to know about it. Some feel it was negotiated in total secrecy and they are now asking how this five-year DOJ agreement came about with little or no discussion and involvement with the franchisee community. And they are concerned that the final agreement negotiated lists numerous obligations for franchisees, which shifts responsibility to them.
One insider questioned, "What did Subway know about this case and when did it know it?" And he asks why wasn't there any hint of it in the 2007 Uniform Franchise Disclosure Circular? He said, "If I were a prospective franchisee of a new store," I would want to know about a major U.S. Department of Justice enforcement action and settlement compliance program about to drop into the system."
Another franchise insider felt that if this DOJ action could be taken against Subway after investigating only a few franchised unit, it could happen to others. He said, "Every franchisor should be concerned about this because it suggests that DOJ might start picking them off, one by one."
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