Pop-Up Arbitration Notice Fails

A plaintiff was injured when an Uber driver collided with another vehicle. Uber asked to compel arbitration. It was denied because the plaintiff was not provided with reasonable notice of the terms of an agreement to arbitrate.

The customer was an Uber user since 2013. In 2021 he received an in-App blocking pop-up screen that said the agreement terms had been updated. It also said the customer should read the terms in full. The software did not require the customer actually to read the terms or scroll through them. It also did not say one of the changes was an arbitration requirement.

Why This Is Important… this case is another in a growing list of decisions that have refused to enforce click-through arbitration agreements. It is clear that unless the person was made aware that they were agreeing to arbitration, no such agreement would be found. Click-through agreements have to be designed to require the person to at least scroll through the agreement being made to have a reasonable chance of enforcing it. Shortcuts will not do.