Lee v. Intelius Inc., No. 11-35810 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseAfter plaintiff purchased a background check and report from Intelius on the Internet, plaintiff discovered that Adaptive, a separate company from Intelius, had been charging his credit card each month for a Family Safety Report. Plaintiff and others filed suit against Intelius in state court. Intelius then filed a third-party complaint against Adaptive. Adaptive filed a motion to compel arbitration of both Intelius's and plaintiff's claims. The court held that plaintiff did not enter into a contract with Adaptive to purchase the Family Safety Report, and did not enter into a contract with Adaptive to arbitrate. Therefore, the court affirmed the district court's denial of the motion to compel. The court remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Arbitration. The panel affirmed the district court’s order denying third-party-defendant Adaptive Marketing’s motion to compel arbitration in a state-law class action brought against Intelius Inc. by plaintiff alleging his credit card was improperly charged for a monthly “Family Safety Report” after plaintiff purchased a background check on the Internet. The panel held that plaintiff did not enter into either a contract to purchase the Family Safety Report, or a contract to arbitrate. Under Washington law, the panel held that Intelius’s webpage insufficiently identified Adaptive as a contracting party to support a conclusion that plaintiff entered into a contract with Adaptive to purchase the Family Safety Report. Under the Federal Arbitration Act, the panel held that even on the assumption that the plaintiff entered into a contract to purchase the Family Safety Report, plaintiff did not enter into a contract to arbitrate.
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