Cyrus Dugger

En Banc Ninth Circuit Court Strikes a Blow for Fairness and Common Sense in Dispute Resolution

From the Consumer Law and Policy Blog

Nearly two years after a Ninth Circuit panel wrongly held that arbitrators, not courts, should decide whether arbitration clauses are unfair and invalid under state law, the en banc Court came out with a decision firmly bringing the law back on track. In the case of Nagrampa v. MailCoups, Inc., No. 03-15955 (9th Cir. Dec. 4, 2006) (en banc), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit restored the rights of parties to challenge contracts that unfairly strip them of access to the civil justice system. In doing so, the en banc court overturned the earlier three-judge panel, whose misapplication of federal law would have allowed companies to enforce one-sided and abusive mandatory arbitration clause terms against workers, consumers, and small-business franchise operators like Connie Nagrampa. (keep reading)

Posted at 10:00 AM, Jan 08, 2007 in Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)