Welcome back for another week of What’s Next, where we report on the intersection of law and technology. This week, we look at how the world is reacting to mass arbitration. Plus, Congress considers another federal privacy bill. And the Ninth Circuit prepares to pare down the millions of plaintiffs in the class action against Qualcomm. Let’s chat: Email me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter at @a_lancaster.
Judge William Alsup, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Mass Attacks on Arbitrations
A legal strategy of filing hordes of individual arbitration claims against a company at once—essentially turning a company’s own arbitration agreements against it—is being tested in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Around 6,000 DoorDash couriers are pursuing mass arbitration against the third-party delivery company in two separate actions over employee misclassification claims. Whether DoorDash folds under the pressure of mounting arbitration fees could determine mass arbitration’s fate as a failed experiment or a new litigation tactic.
