Proponents of arbitration received a victory in federal court this past Tuesday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its published decision in Dhruva v. CuriosityStream, Inc. ...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed the denial of a motion to compel arbitration after concluding, contrary to the district court’s decision, that a “sign-in wrap agreement” provided conspicuous notice of...more
Takeaway: We have written many articles about the use of consumer-facing terms containing mandatory arbitration agreements. “Clickwrap” agreements – agreements that require consumers affirmatively to accept terms – are the...more
A district court in the Seventh Circuit recently granted a motion to compel arbitration and stay proceedings in a putative class action involving Hyundai’s Blue Link crash assistance program. Tamburo v. Hyundai, No....more
A state appellate court in California reversed a superior court’s denial of a massage franchisor’s motion to compel arbitration. Jane Doe #1 (I.G.) v. Massage Envy Franchising, LLC, 2023 WL 8801517 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 20,...more
Last week, a California federal court granted Google’s motion to compel arbitration of claims asserted by customers who alleged that their Fitbit watches burned their skin. The opinion in Houtchens v. Google found that the...more
Recently, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reexamined when use of a website can bind a consumer to hyperlinked “terms and conditions” containing an arbitration provision that the consumer never saw or read. Affirming the...more
Timothy Hidalgo sued the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States Inc. (AAU) on behalf of a purported class for damages emanating from a data breach suffered by the AAU. The court granted the AAU’s motion to compel...more
A California Court granted Defendant’s motion to compel arbitration based on a duly formed and consented arbitration clause via a “clickwrap” agreement, despite Plaintiff’s argument that no contract was ever formed because...more
The court granted Aetna’s motion to compel arbitration of a former employee’s age and disability wrongful termination claims that alleged violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities...more
A recent federal court decision reminds employers that an employee’s electronic acceptance of an arbitration agreement may not, by itself, be enough to prove that the employee has agreed to arbitrate. In Shockley v....more
The Northern District of Illinois recently denied a motion to compel arbitration in a putative class action, and in doing so found that the defendants failed to show that the plaintiff had agreed to arbitrate the dispute when...more
Last week, the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court's grant of a motion to compel individual arbitration in a case that "tests the outer limits of what constitutes a 'reasonably conspicuous' provision" in an online...more
Courts throughout the country continue to express skepticism over, and go to lengths to deny the enforceability of, arbitration provisions in consumer online agreements. A recent example from the New York Supreme Court for...more
For an arbitration agreement to be enforceable, the parties must have a reasonable opportunity to understand its terms. See Fagerstrom v. Amazon.com, Inc., 141 F. Supp. 3d 1070 (S.D. Cal. 2015). With this principle in mind,...more
Courts are increasingly taking a magnifying glass to electronic contracting processes, particularly how the presentation of the terms of service and call to action are displayed. As such, companies might take a second look at...more
Plaintiff filed a class action against Barnes & Noble in the Southern District of New York, alleging that it violated her privacy by sharing information about her purchases with Facebook. Barnes & Noble moved to compel...more
In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that had sent a putative class action against Amazon over its pricing practices to arbitration, as per Amazon’s terms of service. (Wiseley v....more
How important is your businesses’ terms of service (TOS) agreement, usually presented to users of your business model through a process requiring them to click “I agree” before they can access your platform? A recent case...more
On August 17, 2017, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a district court’s denial of Uber’s and Mr. Travis Kalanick’s motions to compel arbitration in a case involving price-fixing accusations. In Meyer v. Kalanick,...more
In recent years, courts have issued varying rulings as to whether online or mobile users adequately consented to user agreements or terms of service when completing an online purchase or registering for a service. In each...more
What makes an on-line arbitration agreement binding against a website user? In Meyer v. Uber Technologies, Inc., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15497 (2d Cir. Aug. 17, 2017), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a...more
This past summer, we wrote about two instances in which courts refused to enforce website terms presented in browsewrap agreements. As we noted, clickthrough agreements are generally more likely to be found to be enforced. ...more
Perhaps overshadowed in the raging battle over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal to ban the use of class action waivers in consumer arbitration agreements involving consumer financial products or services is...more
On July 29, 2016, the Southern District of New York, in Meyer v. Kalanick, refused to enforce mandatory arbitration and jury waiver provisions against a putative class of Uber consumers. In a lengthy and strongly worded...more