LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A lawsuit filed by a Domino’s customer who was angry sales tax was added to the price on a coupon was kicked out of court earlier this year.
Los Angeles federal judge Michael Fitzgerald in July granted Domino’s request to hear the dispute in arbitration instead of open court, finding the arbitration clause it cited was valid and enforceable.
The case, filed last year in Los Angeles, takes aim at a coupon that cuts the cost of some items to $5.99 if two or more are purchased together. Plaintiff Jeff Smorowski and lawyers at Righetti Glugoski and Nathan & Associates say Smorowski was charged much more than $6 per items after tax was figured.
But Smorowski was using Domino’s online ordering option, a motion to dismiss or compel arbitration filed March 15 says.
Under the “PLACE YOUR ORDER” button is an acknowledgement that by placing it, a customer agrees to the terms of use.
“Because the Arbitration Clause unambiguously states that disputes relating to ‘the scope or validity of this arbitration agreement shall be submitted to and resolved exclusively by binding arbitration, rather than in court,’ the Court determines that Plaintiffs agreed to delegate threshold arbitrability issues of scope to an arbitrator by clear and unmistakable evidence,” Fitzgerald wrote.