The Chalks alleged a T-Mobile wireless card wouldn't work in their ThinkPad.
The Ninth Circuit yesterday reversed dismissal of a putative consumer class action. The decision turned on whether a class arbitration waiver in a subscriber contract violated principles of unconscionability under Oregon law. The court held it did. Chalk v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., No. 06-35909 (9th Cir. Mar. 27, 2009).
The court followed Vasquez-Lopez v. Beneficial Oregon, Inc., 152 P.2d 940 (Ore. Ct. App. 2007) (post here), in concluding that the arbitration clause itself — without evidence showing its unconscionable effects — sufficed to invalidate the class waiver.
