Norcia v. Samsung Telecommunications, No. 14-16994 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed a class action against Samsung, alleging that it made misrepresentations as to the performance of the Galaxy S4 phone. The district court denied Samsung's motion to compel arbitration based on an arbitration provision contained in a warranty brochure included in the Galaxy S4 box. Determining that its analysis is governed by California contract, rather than warranty, law, the court concluded plaintiff did not assent to any agreement in the brochure, nor did he sign or otherwise act in a manner that showed he accepted the arbitration agreement. The court concluded that Samsung failed to demonstrate the applicability of any exception to the general California rule that an offeree’s silence does not constitute consent. Therefore, in the absence of an applicable exception, California’s general rule for contract formation applies. The court also concluded that, under the circumstances of this case, Samsung's inclusion of a brochure in the Galaxy S4 box, and plaintiff's failure to opt out, does not make the arbitration provision enforceable against plaintiff. Finally, the court concluded that Samsung's argument that plaintiff agreed to arbitrate his claims by signing the Customer Agreement with Verizon Wireless is meritless. The court explained that Samsung is not a signatory to the Customer Agreement between Verizon Wireless and its customer. Furthermore, Samsung is not a third-party beneficiary to the Customer Agreement. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Arbitration / California Law. The panel affirmed the district court’s order denying Samsung’s motion to compel arbitration of a class action complaint alleging that Samsung made misrepresentations as to the performance of the Galaxy S4 phone. Samsung moved to compel arbitration of the dispute on the ground that an arbitration provision, which was contained in a warranty brochure included in the Galaxy S4 box, was binding on plaintiff. The panel applied California law. The panel rejected Samsung’s theory that the Product and Safety & Warranty Information brochure in the Galaxy S4 box created a binding contract between plaintiffs and Samsung to arbitrate the claims in plaintiff’s complaint. The panel further held that Samsung failed to demonstrate the applicability of any exception to the general California rule that an offeree’s silence did not constitute consent. The panel further held that the brochure was not enforceable as an in-the-box contract. The panel rejected Samsung’s argument that plaintiff agreed to arbitrate his claims by signing a Customer Agreement with Verizon Wireless. The panel noted that Samsung was not a signatory to the agreement. The panel concluded that Samsung failed to bear its burden of establishing that it was a third-party beneficiary of the NORCIA V. SAMSUNG TELECOMM. 3 Customer Agreement, and therefore Samsung could not enforce the arbitration provision in the agreement.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.