Smashburger has agreed to a $5.5 million class-action settlement to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming the fast/casual hamburger chain misled customers about the amount of beef in its Triple Double burgers.
According to a complaint filed in the US District Court in Central California in 2019, then-CEO Tom Ryan promoted the sandwiches in a 2017 marketing campaign as having "three times the cheese and double the beef in every bite."
But, the complaint alleges, the Triple Double was made with two half-size patties -- meaning the same total amount of beef as Smashburger's regular-size hamburger.
Smashburger didn't respond to a request for comment. The company has not admitted any wrongdoing but reached an agreement with the plaintiffs in September and recently launched a settlement website.
Founded in Denver in 2007, Smashburger has more than 312 corporate-owned and franchise locations in the US. Between 2015 and 2018, it was acquired by Philippine corporation Jollibee Foods.
In 2017, Smashburger was sued by In-N-Out Burger, which alleged that Smashburger's Triple Double burger infringed on the trademark for In-N-Out's popular Double-Double burger.
In-N-Out also added false advertising charges, alleging that an uncooked classic Smashburger patty weighed 5 ounces, while the Triple Double burger was just made of two 2.5-ounce beef patties.
In a subsequent complaint filed in 2019, Smashburger customer Andre Galvan said...
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