Second Circuit Rejects Class Action Waiver in American Express Merchant Pact

A class action waiver provision in a contract between American Express Co. and merchants is unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled for the first time. The circuit, reinstating a lawsuit brought by the merchants under the Sherman Act, said it was unwilling to grant "de facto immunity from antitrust liability by removing the plaintiffs' only reasonably feasible means of recovery."

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