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Tag: Arbitration

7th Circuit Denies Debt Collector’s Bid For Arbitration

Steven Uhrich

Link: Smith v. GC Services Limited Partnership, No. 18-1361 (7th Cir. 2018).

In an FDCPA case filed by Philipps & Philipps, Ltd., in July 2016, the defendants waited to demand arbitration until March of 2017—but filed nothing with the court. It wasn’t until August of 2017, once the class had been certified and another motion to dismiss denied, that the defendants brought their motion to compel arbitration.

The District Court for Southern District of Indiana held that the arbitration clause could not be invoked by GC Services based on an agency theory or equitable estoppel, and that in any event GC Services had waived its right to invoke the clause by waiting so long to bring it to the court’s attention.

The Seventh Circuit affirmed:

Smith does not contend that GC Services expressly waived any right to arbitrate. The question is whether we should infer that forfeiture occurred, which requires us to “determine that, considering the totality of the circumstances, a party acted inconsistently with the right to arbitrate.”

The panel went on to find that GC Services did not act diligently because the company did not mention the arbitration agreement in its answer, provided an inadequate explanation for the five-month delay in seeking arbitration after learning of the agreement, and prejudiced Smith by (unsuccessfully) engaging in motions practice.

The panel also found that this would prejudice the Plaintiff since he had already obtained victory on legal points and that allowing arbitration would undo those victories:

“GC Services’ motion to dismiss framed an integral—perhaps dispositive—issue: whether 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(a)(3) requires that debts be disputed in writing. The Third Circuit has held that a written dispute is required; the Second, Fourth, and Ninth Circuits have held that no writing requirement exists. Compare Graziano v. Harrison, 950 F.2d 107, 112 (3d Cir. 1991), with Clark, 741 F.3d at 490-91; Hooks v. Forman, Holt, Eliades & Ravin, LLC, 717 F.3d 282, 285-87 (2d Cir. 2013); Camacho v. Bridgeport Fin., Inc., 430 F.3d 1078, 1080-82 (9th Cir. 2005). District courts within the Seventh Circuit have decided the issue both ways. See, e.g., Jolly v. Shapiro, 237 F. Supp. 2d 888, 895 (N.D. Ill. 2002) (finding a writing requirement); Campbell v. Hall, 624 F. Supp. 2d 991, 1000 (N.D. Ind. 2009) (finding no writing requirement) . . .

“[T]he district court’s determination that Smith was prejudiced when GC Services sought arbitration after Smith had defeated a motion to dismiss, obtained class certification, and litigated several discovery issues was not erroneous. In essence, GC Services sought to erase Smith’s successes—including her victory on the pivotal legal issue of whether § 1692g(a)(3) contains a writing requirement . . . “

The Court concluded with an apt warning to defense counsel in other cases:

This attempt to “play heads I win, tails you lose” is “the worst possible reason for delay.” Cabinetree, 50 F.3d at 391. 

TCPA Class Claim Against Uber Subject to Arbitration

Steven Uhrich

Link: Johnson v. UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC., No. 16 C 5468 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 20, 2018).

Judge John Z. Lee found that Uber’s arbitration click-wrap agreement is enforceable, and as a result tossed the putative class claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act:

Illinois law requires that a consumer be provided reasonable notice of all the terms and conditions of an agreement as well as reasonable notice that, by clicking a button, the consumer is assenting to the agreement. See Sgouros, 817 F.3d at 1034-36. “This is a fact-intensive inquiry: we cannot presume that a person who clicks on a box that appears on a computer screen has notice of all contents not only of that page but of other content that requires further action (scrolling, following a link, etc.).” Id. at 1034. As part of this inquiry, the court considers whether a reasonable person would be misled, confused, misdirected, or distracted by the manner in which the terms and conditions are presented. Id.

. . .

Similar to Dell’s website in Hubbert, the app that Johnson used to create his Uber account included the following statement: “By creating an Uber account, you agree to the Terms of Service & Privacy Policy.” See Def.’s LR 56.1(a)(3) Stmt. ¶ 15. The statement appeared in an easy-to-read font on an uncluttered screen, and no scrolling was required to view it. Id. ¶¶ 10, 15, 17. The words “Terms of Service & Privacy Policy” in the statement also served as a hyperlink, which appeared in a larger-sized font, enclosed in an outlined box. See id. The hyperlink, when clicked, brought the user to a screen displaying Uber’s Terms of Service in effect at the time. Id. ¶¶ 15, 18. As in Hubbert, the Court holds that the manner in which this statement and the Terms of Service were presented placed a reasonable person on notice that there were terms incorporated with creating an Uber account and that, by creating an account, he or she was agreeing to those terms.

 

TCPA Case Against Uber Subject to Arbitration

Steven Uhrich

Link: Johnson v. UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Case No. 16 C 5468 (N.D. Ill., Sept. 20, 2018).

Plaintiff sued on the basis that he installed the Uber app once, never used it, uninstalled it, then received an unsolicited text message asking him if he wanted to drive for Uber. Judge John Z. Lee found that despite Plaintiff’s arguments to the contrary, his TCPA claim was subject to the arbitration agreement found within Uber’s  click-wrap terms of service that were available via hyperlink when the Plaintiff installed the app on his phone.

[T]he Uber app contained a clear and conspicuous statement that, by creating an Uber account, a user agreed to the Terms of Service & Privacy Policy and prompted the user to click the hyperlink by displaying it prominently in an outlined box.

Plaintiff also argued that his TCPA action is not within the scope of the clause. The court rejected this:

Undeterred, Johnson further argues that, even if he did enter into an arbitration agreement, his TCPA claim does not fall within its scope. “Once it is clear, however, that the parties have a contract that provides for arbitration of some issues between them, any doubt concerning the scope of the arbitration clause is resolved in favor of arbitration as a matter of federal law.” Gore v. Alltel Commc’ns, LLC, 666 F.3d 1027, 1032 (7th Cir. 2012). “To this end, a court may not deny a party’s request to arbitrate an issue `unless it may be said with positive assurance that the arbitration clause is not susceptible of an interpretation that covers the asserted dispute.'” Kiefer Specialty Flooring, Inc. v. Tarkett, Inc., 174 F.3d 907, 909 (7th Cir. 1999).

Court Dismisses Class Privacy Suit Against Southwest Airlines

Steven Uhrich

Link: Miller v. Southwest Airlines Co., 18-cv-86 (N.D. Ill., Aug. 23, 2018)

Plaintiffs, through counsel Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge, LLC, filed a class action against Southwest Airlines alleging they violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740 ILCS 14/1, et seq., by requiring employees to scan their fingerprint but (1) did not provide notice to employees regarding the biometric timekeeping program; (2) did not obtain written informed consent from the employees who are required to use the biometric timekeeping program; and (3) failed to publish data retention and deletion policies for its employees. Defendant removed the state case to federal court, then filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under rule 12(b)(6) and that Plaintiff’s claims are preempted by the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 181. The RLA governs collective bargaining agreements in the railroad and airline industries.

Judge Marvin E. Aspen agreed that Plaintiff met its burden under Article III standing under Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540, 1547 (2016), and thus did not dismiss the case under 12(b)(6). However the court granted Southwest’s motion to dismiss for improper venue under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(3) because Plaintiff’s claims are subject to mandatory arbitration or collective bargaining negotiations under their collective bargaining agreements and the RLA.