For those of you who don’t know me, I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t pretend to be one. So I’m sure there are times where I jump to legal conclusions or make assertions that are just wrong, and I’m saying at the outset that this might be one of those times. But I spent $1.50 to download this ruling so I’m going to make a leap to at least try to justify such a significant expense.
Restaurant chain Subway has asked the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to stay a ruling overturning a lower court’s decision so that it can file an appeal to the Supreme Court. Subway wants to appeal the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, which said that promotional text messages sent from T-Mobile offering free sandwiches from the chain were a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and that Subway is not allowed to compel arbitration under the wireless agreement between T-Mobile and the plaintiffs. A lower court had ruled that Subway was allowed to force mandatory arbitration under the agreement between the plaintiffs and the wireless carrier. The Appeals Court ruled that arbitration mandated by the agreement between T-Mobile and the plaintiffs should not extend to Subway.
A copy of the motion to stay the ruling in expectation of an appeal being filed to the Supreme Court in the case of David Rahmany et al v. T-Mobile USA and Subway Sandwich Shops can be accessed by clicking here.
Subway is seeking to argue that the Appeals Court “limited its analysis to California law” without considering the Federal Arbitration Act.
Compelling arbitration is something that many in the industry have tried to varying measures of success.
