Sebastopol’s Farmer’s Wife sues Grubhub in class action case over site listings

Fed up with calling Grubhub to ask the food delivery business to take her Sebastopol restaurant off its list, Farmer’s Wife owner Kendra Kolling’s last straw came in the form of a class action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Illinois.

The Chicago-based online service has until Jan. 29 to reply to the legal complaint submitted two months ago with Kolling of the Farmer’s Wife on McKinley Street and Lynn Scott of Antonia’s in Hillsborough, North Carolina, as lead plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs stated Grubhub advertises their restaurants among its site, without permission. Further, in addition to charging restaurants 30% fees if they partner with the online delivery service, the suit said the service provided to its customers is flawed.

“Grubhub’s financial success has come at restaurants’ expense,” the legal complaint reads. When an order is placed, consumers believe they have a “direct line into the kitchen.” But when a Grubhub order comes in to an unaffiliated restaurant, that request is relayed directly to the driver, who places the order to the restaurant in person or on the phone with a corporate credit card. The lack of accountability leads to confusion — one in which these diners’ experiences are “rife with operational challenges,” the complaint adds.

Details emerged of drivers arriving late and acting unprofessionally, while using outdated menus and allowing for canceled orders too often, the lawsuit and restaurant owners say.

“They did something that was nefarious, without my consent,” Kolling told the Business Journal.

Grubhub has declined to comment on the pending litigation according to company spokeswoman Katie Norris. Calls to its law firm, Cozen O‘Connor, were unreturned.

The online food delivery platform has spent 15 years telling its customer base that numbered more than 15 million active users by 2018 that “it had partnered with local restaurants to offer the coordinated takeout or delivery services,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit makes a claim that Grubhub profited from adding on as many restaurants as possible on its list. But in October 2019, the company “was forced to slash its projections,” as competing services DoorDash and Uber Eats were taking a bite out of its market share.

“The company was looking for a quick return to the rapid growth and astronomical market valuations it had previously enjoyed,” the suit states.

According to a Chicago Business Journal article published June 10, Grubhub Inc. was sold to Just Eat Takeway.com of The Netherlands for $7.3 billion.

Many restaurants have been invited to join the class action fight. The law firm managing the suit hasn’t placed an end-all amount for damages on the suit, but the complaint estimates the figure may exceed $5 million.

“It’s not about the money,” Kolling insists, adding the cost of a tarnished reputation remained dire.

Instead she added, her restaurant operates on a high standard of unique recipes and organic ingredients for its farm-to-table brand. “We have a saying around here: ‘You’re only as good as your last sandwich.’”

But the Farmer’s Wife was billed as an eatery with pub seafood to Grubhub, and sometimes the drivers would deliver orders 45 minutes away. Her signature hot-melt dishes were not intended for that kind of ride, Kolling lamented.

“I’m a tough lady, but I’m not about to go under because of corporate greed,” Kolling said.

Located in the Barlow, the Farmer’s Wife has built a following over its 14 years in business. When it appeared the arrangement with Grubhub wasn’t working out, she contacted the company five times last fall to get removed from the list to no avail.

State law addresses the issue

Then, California’s Assembly Bill 2149 — the Fair Food Delivery Act — went into effect on Jan. 1. The law specifically prohibits companies such as Grubhub from arranging for food delivery unless the restaurant agrees to it.

“The damage has been done,” said Alex Bukac, the case’s attorney at Gibb’s Law based in Oakland.

“We’ve had more phone calls and emails about this than I can count. What you’re describing is the impetus for this law,” California Restaurant Association spokeswoman Sharokina Shams told the Business Journal.

Horror stories were shared with the state restaurant industry trade group. Shams recalled one instance in which a restaurant discovered French fries in one meal delivery were skimmed off the top.

Iron Springs Pub owner Anne Dubinsky Altman said she and her husband Mike tried using Grubhub and DoorDash online services but prefer controlling deliveries at their Marin County restaurant using their own employees.

During the pandemic’s latest shutdown that only allowed for curbside and delivery, they bought a truck for that purpose. Since she found the online services used outdated menus, the arrangement didn’t work out for the couple.

“This was one big reason we got the truck,” she said. “We’d get customer complaints. Sometimes (Grubhub drivers) wouldn’t pick up for an hour. Then, the customer would yell at us.”

Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, agriculture and transportation as well as banking and finance. For 25 years, Susan has worked for a variety of publications including the North County Times in San Diego County, Tahoe Daily Tribune and Lake Tahoe News. She graduated from Fullerton College. Reach her at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com.