Amazon.com Inc. recently and quietly dropped the arbitration requirement in their terms of service. The change was made after more than 75,000 individual arbitration demands were made on Amazon. The individual demands were made on behalf of Amazon’s Echo users. Because of the individual arbitration demands, the costs for the filing fees were in the tens of millions of dollars. These fees, under Amazon’s own policies, were payable by Amazon.
The change to the terms of service now allows customers to file lawsuits, including potential class actions. However, users will need to agree to adjudicate in the state or federal courts in King County, Washington.
Amazon is currently involved in several class actions, including one on its Echo devices.
This blog is intended to provide information to the general public and to practitioners about developments that may impact Oregon class actions.
