AT&T Wireless / iPhone Arbitration, Class Action Waiver Upheld in Middle District of Florida
Florida Arbitration Law . com:
We previously commented on the AT&T Mobility Wireless Service Agreement which comes with most AT&T Wireless (formerly Cingular) plans, including the iPhone. Since its inception in mid-2007, both the original and 3G iPhone have always required AT & T service as well as arbitration and class action waivers, although the contract language has changed over time. The terms are quite unique and, as AT&T own lawyers wrote in their brief, the phone company proclaims their dispute resolution program as “more pro consumer than any other arbitration provision in the country.”
Florida courts seem to agree. In Lourdes Cruz, Paul Flaherty, Jr., and Curtis Smith v. Cingular Wireless, LLC n/k/a AT&T Mobility, LLC, Judge John E. Steele of the Middle District of Florida gave both the arbitration and waiver of class action rights the big thumbs up. Indeed, there was some fairly strong, similar precedent from the Eleventh Circuit and even the Fourth DCA on the state court side.
AT&T has a Wireless Service Agreement which makes reference to a separate Terms and Conditions booklet, which describes the dispute resolution (arbitration), attorney’s fees, and class action waiver. Of note, we previously used the bluish hue of our iPhone to cast some light on the Terms of Service in this prior post. Some unusual provisions in there, including a term that the consumer gets either AT&T’s last offer or $5,000, whichever is higher and double attorney fees if the consumer wins a small amount.
Using the FAA, the Middle District plowed down the fertile field of unconscionability and public policy cases, picking out the precendential weeds of aborted arbitration clauses and seeds of enforced class action waivers.
The analysis rested on whether Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practice Act (FDUTPA) states or implies class action rights since it was enacted to…