Mohamed v. Uber Technologies, No. 15-16178 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs Mohamed and Gillette, former Uber drivers, filed suit alleging on behalf of themselves and a proposed class of other drivers that Uber violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq., and various state statutes. Gillette has also brought a representative claim against Uber under California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) alleging that he was misclassified as an independent contractor rather than an employee. The district court denied Uber’s motion to compel arbitration of the claims. The court concluded that the district court improperly assumed the authority to decide whether the arbitration agreements were enforceable. The question of arbitrability as to all but Gillette’s PAGA claims was delegated to the arbitrator. Under the terms of the agreement Gillette signed, the PAGA waiver should be severed from the arbitration agreement and Gillette’s PAGA claims may proceed in court on a representative basis. All of plaintiffs’ remaining arguments, including both Mohamed’s challenge to the PAGA waiver in the agreement he signed and the challenge by both plaintiffs to the validity of the arbitration agreement itself, are subject to resolution via arbitration. Finally, the court affirmed the district court’s order denying Hirease’s joinder in the motion to compel.
Court Description: Arbitration / California Private Attorney General Act. The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s orders denying Uber Technologies, Inc.’s motion to compel arbitration in actions brought by two former Uber drivers, Abdul Mohamed and Ronald Gillette, on behalf of themselves and a proposed class of drivers, and remanded for further proceedings. The district court denied Uber’s motion to compel arbitration of the plaintiffs’ claims. The panel held that the district court erred in assuming the authority to decide whether the parties’ arbitration agreements were enforceable. The panel further held that the question of arbitrability as to all but Gillette’s California Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) claim was delegated to the arbitrator. The panel also held that under the terms of the agreement Gillette signed, the PAGA waiver should be severed from the arbitration agreement and Gillette’s PAGA claim may proceed in court on a representative basis. The panel also held that all of plaintiffs’ remaining arguments, including both Mohamad’s challenge to the PAGA waiver in the agreement he signed and the challenge by both plaintiffs to the validity of the arbitration agreement itself, were subject to resolution via arbitration. 4 MOHAMED V. UBER TECHNOLOGIES The panel affirmed the district court’s order denying the motion to compel arbitration filed by Hirease, LLC, an independent background-check company that Mohamed named in his complaint alongside Uber. The panel held that Hirease was not entitled to compel arbitration as Uber’s agent.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on December 21, 2016.
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