California Appellate Tracker

Geier v. m-Qube, Inc.

June 8, 2016

Suppliers who were third party beneficiaries of phone aggregator’s contract with consumer plaintiff could enforce that contract’s arbitration clause against plaintiff.

A mobile phone connection aggregator, Pow! Mobile, had a contract that any dispute would be resolved by non-class arbitration. The contract also required the consumer to waive all claims against Pow! Mobile’s “suppliers.” This decision holds that if the district court finds that plaintiff’s wife agreed to Pow! Mobile’s contract and m-Qube demonstrates that it was a Pow! Mobile “supplier,” then m-Qube may compel arbitration of plaintiff’s dispute. The waiver of claims against suppliers made the suppliers third party beneficiaries of Pow! Mobile’s contract. In that capacity, the suppliers could enforce the contract’s arbitration clause even if they did not sign the agreement. See also Gibson v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (8th Cir. 1999) 181 F.3d 1163, 1170.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (per curiam); May 26, 2016; 2016 WL 3034064

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Geier v. m-Qube, Inc.

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