Freshcraft Seeks Class Action Status With Local Restaurants In Lawsuit Against Grubhub

DENVER (CBS4)- Erik Riggs is the owner of Freshcraft in the 1500 block of Blake Street in Denver. Like many restaurants it has turned to takeout and delivery to survive.

"I made a conscious effort to not use Grubhub and use these other apps and my own delivery drivers and my own app," he told CBS4.

But when he Google searched his restaurant he got a surprise.

"I typed in Freshcraft delivery in the search engine and the first thing that popped up was a Grubhub site and the first thing it said was Freshcraft is not taking online orders."

That was news to him because what appeared was just not true. He said it directed users to try similar restaurants that partner with Grubhub.

"It's deplorable they are diverting sales from my restaurant with their partners without confirming that I'm not taking orders or even open," Riggs told CBS4's Rick Sallinger.

He filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking class action status with other restaurants.

Sonia Riggs (no relation to Erik Riggs of Freshcraft) the president and CEO of the Colorado Restaurant Association warns customers to beware.

"I would encourage the general public to check with their local restaurant they are planning to order from to make sure they really do a have a relationship with their third party delivery company," said Sonia Riggs.

Freshcraft's lawsuit claims Grubhub's app shows the restaurant closed and accuses the company of false advertising.

CBS4 reached out to Grubhub for a response to the allegations in the lawsuit.

Katie Norris, senior manager of corporate communications replied, "We're committed to helping restaurants during this challenging time. Beyond this we don't comment on pending litigation."