Arbitration, Equitable Estoppel: 9th Circuit Holds Equitable Estoppel Could Not Be Used To Compel Nonsignatories To Arbitrate, Because The Nonsignatories Did Not Allege Claims Under A Contract, But Rather Under the ADA

Plaintiffs Sued Uber Technologies Under The ADA Because It Did Not Provide Accessible Ride Sharing In New Orleans.

        The interesting set of facts in Namisnak v. Uber Technologies et al., No. 18-15860 (9th Cir. 8/24/20) (Nelson, J.), is that the disabled plaintiffs who sued Uber under the ADA because Uber failed to provide an accessible ride sharing program (uberWAV) in New Orleans, failed to make use of the Uber app. And it is using the Uber app that binds the user to an arbitration agreement. By stating claims against Uber, yet not making use of the Uber app, could the plaintiffs nevertheless be bound to arbitrate by the doctrine of equitable estoppel, because it would be unfair for the nonsignatory to rely "on an agreement for one purpose while disavowing the arbitration clause of the agreement."

        Here, the plaintiffs did not rely on an agreement with Uber to state their claims. Instead, they relied solely on the Americans with Disabilities Act, and thus equitable estoppel did not apply. Hence, they could not be required to arbitrate.

        COMMENT: The court states that "the dispositive distinction in this case", which distinguishes it from similar cases, is that Uber does not offer the uberWAV at all in New Orleans. If Uber did, it would the make sense "that a plaintiff would be required to download the Uber App so that a proper comparison of available services may be made in support of an alleged ADA claim."  Under those circumstances, the plaintiff who downloaded the App would be treated as a signatory, and  presumably the plaintiff who skipped the reasonable step of downloading the App would be equitably estopped from avoiding arbitration.