Class Action Waivers

In Ionescu v. Extra Space Storage, No. 19-cv-02226-YGR, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143992, at *1-2 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 23, 2019), Judge Gonzalez-Rogers ordered a claim to arbitration. The facts were as follows: Plaintiffs Alexandru Ionescu, Lenay Johnson, and Lamar Mosley bring this putative class-action law suit against defendant Extra Space Storage Inc. ("Extra Space") for false advertising in violation of… Read More

In Eiess v. Usaa Fed. Sav. Bank, No. 19-cv-00108-EMC, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144026, at *2-4 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 23, 2019), Judge Chen ordered a class action plaintiff's individual claim to arbitration, and stayed the claim for public injunctive relief pending the outcome of Plaintiff's individual claim. The facts were as follows: Ms. Eiess is a customer of USAA and… Read More

In Blair v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., No. 17-17221, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 19476 (9th Cir. June 28, 2019), the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that the F.A.A. does not pre-empt the California Supreme Court’s McGill decision.  The Court of Appeals summarized its decision as follows: The panel affirmed the district court's denial of Rent-A-Center's motion to compel arbitration… Read More

Today, the Dept. of Treasury issued an analysis of the CFPB's Arbitration Rule, entitled Limiting Consumer Choice, Expanding Costly Litigation: An Analysis of the CFPB Arbitration Rule.  The Dept. of the Treasury concluded that In view of these defects, it is clear that the Rule does not satisfy the statutory prerequisites for banning the use of arbitration agreements under the… Read More

In McGill v. Citibank, N.A., 2017 WL 1279700, at *1 (Cal., 2017), the California Supreme Court addresses whether the Broughton/Cruz rule survives Concepcion.  See Kilgore v. KeyBank, Nat. Ass'n, --- F.3d ----, 2012 WL 718344 (9th Cir. 2012) ("the Broughton–Cruz rule does not survive Concepcion because the rule “prohibits outright the arbitration of a particular type of claim”—claims for broad public… Read More

Today, the CFPB issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with regard to consumer arbitration, here:  CFPB_Arbitration_Agreements_Notice_of_Proposed_Rulemaking.  The CFPB's press release is here:  CFPB Press Release. The CFPB proposal is seeking comment on a proposal to prohibit companies from putting mandatory arbitration clauses in new contracts that prevent class action lawsuits. The proposal would open up the legal system to consumers… Read More

In Goodridge v. KDF Automotive Group, Inc., 2016 WL 142216, at *9-10 (Cal.App. 4 Dist., 2016) (unpublished), the Court of Appeal addressed Plaintiff's continued post-Sanchez fight against arbitration, finding that the standard form RISC was not unconscionable.  The Court of Appeal also found that that the Defendant's litigation conduct did not waive the right to assert it. We conclude Goodridge has not… Read More

In DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, 2015 WL 8546242, at *1-2 (U.S.Cal.,2015), the Supreme Court of the United States once again affirmed its preference for arbitration, and killed the "poison-pill" argument that had gathered fancy amongst the plaintiff's bar. Petitioner DIRECTV, Inc., and its customers entered into a service agreement that included a binding arbitration provision with a class-arbitration waiver. It specified… Read More

In Vargas v. SAI Monrovia B, Inc., 2015 WL 7301781, at *5 (Cal.App. 2 Dist., 2015) (unpublished), the Court of Appeal found the RISC arb. clause not to be unconscionable.  What's interesting about the opinion is what to do with the class action allegations in granting the petition to arbitration.  The Court of Appeal found that the trial court properly… Read More

In Gillespie v. Svale Del Grande, Inc., 2015 WL 7307139, at *5-6 (Cal.App. 6 Dist., 2015) (unpublished), the Court of Appeal issued a lengthy opinion after remand from the Supreme Court in Sanchez that the Arbitration clause was enforceable.  The Court rejected the argument that neither the Arbitration Clause's choice of law or poison-pill provisions negated FAA pre-emption. The California Supreme Court disagreed… Read More

In Brinkley v. Monterey Financial Services, Inc., 2015 WL 7302268 (Cal.App. 4 Dist., 2015), the California Court of Appeal found a TCPA/Call Recording case to be within the scope of an enforceable arbitration clause:= We conclude that Brinkley's claims fall within the scope of the arbitration agreement and that the arbitration agreement is enforceable, with the exception of one provision… Read More

The CFPB fired another shot across the bow today, issuing a proposal for banning class-action waivers in consumer arbitration clause.  A copy of the proposal can be found here:  http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201510_cfpb_small-business-review-panel-packet-explaining-the-proposal-under-consideration.pdf The press release, found here (http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/cfpb-considers-proposal-to-ban-arbitration-clauses-that-allow-companies-to-avoid-accountability-to-their-customers/) stated: Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it is considering proposing rules that would ban consumer financial companies from using “free pass”… Read More

Today, the California Supreme Court handed car dealers and auto finance companies an important victory, upholding the arbitration clause in the standard form automobile purchase contract used by most dealers in the Golden State.  (Sanchez v. Valencia Holding Co., LLC. (S199119; Aug. 3, 2015).)  A copy of the California Supreme Court's decision can be found here.  The California Supreme Court… Read More

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court heard oral argument in Sanchez (Gil) v. Valencia Holding Co. LLC, S199119. (B228027; 201 Cal.App.4th 74; Superior Court of Los Angeles County; BC433634) on whether the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. § 2), as interpreted in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion (2011) 563 U. S. __, 131 S.Ct. 1740, preempts state law rules invalidating mandatory arbitration provisions… Read More

We received word that the Supreme Court (finally) scheduled oral argument in the Sanchez matter for May 5, 2015 at 9:00 in San Francisco.  We will report following oral argument. Read More

In Barnes v. Bakersfield Dodge, Inc., 2014 WL 5392963 (Cal.App. 5 Dist. 2014), the Court of Appeal found in an unpublished decision that a previous order finding that a car dealer had waived its right to arbitrate a class-action plaintiffs’ claim did not mean that the car dealer had waived its right to arbitrate the claims of members of the… Read More

In Gillespie v. Svale Del Grande, Inc., 2014 WL 1509813 (Cal.App. 6 Dist. 2014), the Sixth District Court of Appeal found that Concepcion trumped the CLRA’s anti-class action waiver, but remanded the matter to the superior court to determine whether other unconscionable provisions could be severed. In this case, pursuant to Concepcion, supra, 131 S.Ct. 1740, we determine that the… Read More

In Imburgia v. DIRECTV, Inc.--- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, 2014 WL 1347748 (Cal.App. 2 Dist. 2014), the Court of Appeal found that an arbitration clause that determined enforceability of a class action waiver by reference to state law was not inconsistent with Concepcion, and found the class action waiver prohibited by the CLRA. In addition to stating that the parties waive their rights… Read More

In Mendoza v. Ad Astra Recovery Services Inc., 2014 WL 47777 (C.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Snyder ordered a TCPA class action to arbitration.  The facts were as follows: On September 9, 2013, plaintiff Miguel Mendoza filed this putative class action against defendant Ad Astra Recovery Services, Inc. (“Ad Astra”) on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated. Plaintiff asserts claims… Read More

In Gonzalez v. Metro Nissan of Redlands, 2013 WL 4858770 (Cal.App. 4 Dist. 2013), an unpublished decision, the Court of Appeal entered the Sanchez fray, and came down on the side of enforcing the arbitration clause in the LawPrinting RISC.   "Because we have no guidance from the Supreme Court, and because we cannot rely on the decisions of our sister courts,… Read More