Delegation Of Threshold Issue To Arbitrator Must Be Unmistakably Clear. Mahram used Instacart to purchase groceries and later sued Ralphs (The Kroger Co.) for allegedly raising prices after applying a coupon, claiming violations under false advertising and unfair competition laws. Ralphs moved to compel arbitration based on an agreement between Mahram and Instacart, even […]
Reference To The URL For AAA Rules Is Not Clear And Unmistakable Evidence Of Delegation Of Arbitrability. In an employment-related disputed, employee Mondragon argued that an arbitration provision that did not cover PAGA claims to the extent possible excluded all PAGA claims from arbitration, whereas the employer argued that it was only intended to […]
The Supreme Court Does Not Decide Whether The Ninth Circuit's Decision Was Correct, Only Whether The Decision Was For The Court To Make. The parties "had executed two contracts: the User Agreement, which sent disputes about arbitrability to arbitration, and the Official Rules, which appeared to send disputes to California courts." Coinbase, Inc. v. […]
Judge Eric D. Miller Agrees Majority's Analysis, But Disagrees That The Ninth Circuit Rule Is Any Different From The Rule In Other Circuits. Abraham Bielski has already made law in his case against Coinbase, Inc., a cryptocurrency exchange. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court held in Bielski's case that a district court must stay […]
No Evidence Of Signed Agreement. Bruno Fleming sued Oliphant Financial for allegedly violating the California Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Oliphant unsuccessfully petitioned the trial court to compel arbitration. The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's order denying Oliphant's petition to compel arbitration. Fleming v. Oliphant Financial, LLC, A165837 (1/1 1/31/23) (Devine, […]
Thirty-Nine Page Slip Opinion Hinges On Issue Of Waiver. The Court of Appeal addresses a variety of issues in the context of a complicated procedural history in Desert Regional Medical Center v. Leah Miller and Desert Regional Medical Center v. Lynn Fontana, E076058 and E076069 (4/2 1/6/23) (Codrington, Ramirez, Raphael). The procedural history […]
Existence Of Agreement Was Not An Issue To Delegate To Arbitrator. Fiona Trinity sued Life Insurance Company of North America and individuals (LINA parties) for employment-related claims. The LINA Parties moved unsuccessfully to compel arbitration in the trial court, and the Court of Appeal affirmed. The LINA parties could not establish the […]
Ineffective Delegation Clauses, Fraud In The Execution, And Unconsciconability Result In Reversals. In Najarro v. Sup. Ct. of the County of San Bernardino; Horizon Personnel Services Inc., et al, E076328 (4/2 10/22/21) (Raphael, Codrington, Slough), the court does plenty of slicing and dicing, because there are two arbitration agreements, two sets of employees, […]
August 12, 2021 Was A Day Rich In 9th Circuit Arbitration Decisions. Santiago Lim v. TForce Logistics, LLC, No. 20-55564 (9th Cir. 8/12/21) (Smith, Owens, Robreno). This case is about the gateway decision of arbitrability, delegation of that decision, and unconscionability. The panel holds that the delegation and arbitration clauses are procedurally and substantively […]
Ninth Circuit Agrees With District Court That Labor Dispute Was Not Arbitrable And That Arbitrability Was Properly Decided By The Court. In Tramon Wilson-Davis v. SSP America, et al., B306781 (2/3 4/9/21) (Edmon, Lavin, Egerton), a dishwasher sued his employer, individually and behalf of a putative class, for wage and hour violations. A collective […]