Missing sprouts on sandwich becomes a class action lawsuit

I noticed the ad (right) this morning, and wondered what injustice over alfalfa sprouts on a Jimmy John's sandwich could have risen to the level of a class-action settlement requiring an ad in the Monday Star Tribune.

Usually these kinds of ads note the settlement affecting those whose failed medical device had ghastly consequences. But this one apparently stemmed from a Jimmy John's customer named Heather Starks. Sprouts mean a lot in California, and so are lawyers, so when they don't arrive on your sandwich as advertised, customers like Starks go to court.

Jimmy John's never admitted to shorting anyone on sprouts, but it has proposed to give aggrieved customers $1.40 vouchers good for a pickle, potato chips, cookie or soda, until the $725,000 reparations budget is exhausted. The lawyers for Starks (Shenkman & Hughes, whose web site displays a lovely beach, presumably of their Malibu home base) will gain $370,000 for their effort.

I'm all in favor of holding corporations accountable for false advertising. But these kinds of ridiculous cases only give ammunition to critics who want to stamp out class actions for issues that really matter. I hold my breath to avoid the free smells of Jimmy John's, but the sprout suit truly makes me gag.