Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. – January 21, 2022 – Greenspoon Marder is pleased to announce partner Jeffrey A. Backman and senior counsel Roy Taub have secured a defense victory for client Grand Caribbean Cruises, Inc. (“GCC”). The lawsuit alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and sought to certify a nationwide class action.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Plaintiff Jacqueline Barney in state court in a putative class action for alleged violation of the TCPA. After removing the class action to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Greenspoon Marder filed a motion to compel arbitration based on the Plaintiff’s agreement to arbitrate any disputes relating to telephone calls, including from GCC, arising from the Plaintiff’s sweepstakes entry on a third-party website. On January 17, 2022, Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II issued an order in favor of Greenspoon Marder’s motion to compel arbitration, finding the Plaintiff’s arguments about the layout and content of the website being insufficient to place her on notice that she agreed to the website’s terms and conditions, which contained the arbitration provisions, “hold no water.”
Additionally, Judge Ruiz sided with GCC, concluding that the evidence presented by Greenspoon Marder showed that the website required users to check a box accompanied by language indicating that the user “agree[s] to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions that are hyperlinked at the bottom of the page” to enter the sweepstakes, finding that language means a website user such as Plaintiff “would understand that he or she is assenting to the linked terms, including those pertaining to mandatory arbitration.”
“The court’s decision is an excellent result for our client,” said Mr. Backman. “To say we are pleased is an understatement, and the successful outcome was a result of our team’s hard work.”
Greenspoon Marder’s Class Action Defense practice group has successfully defended against hundreds of TCPA class actions. We are keenly aware of the underlying substantive areas of law in TCPA and other consumer class action lawsuits that can bankrupt even the biggest companies, and defending against them is no small feat. Experienced, strategic counsel is a necessity.
