Court of Appeal Says It Would Have Been Futile To Seek Reversal Earlier
In Phillips v. Sprint, Case No. A134371 (First Dist. Div. 3 Sept. 26, 2012) (Pollak, J., author) (published), the Court of Appeal considered a situation in which the trial court denied a request to arbitrate in 2006 in a consumer class action, but granted the request in 2011, following the Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, ___ U.S. ___ ,131 S.Ct. 1740 (2011)(Concepcion). In 2011, Concepcion abrogated the California rule, and upheld the validity of class action waivers in consumer contracts requiring arbitration.
Plaintiffs in Phillips v. Sprint argued the failure to appeal the earlier denial was “res judicata.” But a motion does not result in a judgment, and therefore the earlier decision was not res judicata.
Plaintiffs also argued that the failure to appeal the earlier denial constituted a waiver of arbitration. “However, as Sprint argues, pursuing an appeal would have been futile given the state of law at the time. ‘Waiver should not be found on the basis of a party’s failure to undertake a futile act.’ (In re Apple & AT&TM Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Cal. 2011) 826 F.Supp.2d 1168, 1174.)”
Phillips v. Sprint is in line with Reyes v. Liberman Broadcasting Inc., Case No. B235211 (2nd Dist. Div. 1 Aug. 31, 2012), a case we posted about on September 2, 2012. The court in Reyes also held that an employer that quickly asserted its right to arbitrate after Concepcion was decided did not waive its right to arbitrate.
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