H&R Block Tax Data Distribution Dispute Goes to Arbitration

H&R Block‘s online service agreement obligated a lead plaintiff in a proposed class action to arbitrate his claims that the tax preparation company improperly transmitted his data to Google and Facebook, a federal judge said.

The arbitration agreement covered Justin Hunt’s claim over third-party data distribution and wasn’t sufficiently unconscionable as to warrant cancellation under California law, said Judge P. Casey Pitts, of the US District Court for the Northern District of California. His fraudulent inducement claim challenges the validity of the entire online service agreement, and therefore must be evaluated by an arbitrator.

The class action was one ...