Uber App’s Arbitration Clause Can’t Be Enforced

Uber Technologies Inc. can’t compel arbitration of customer disputes under the arbitration clause on its app, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said June 25.

The clause isn’t conspicuous and the customers weren’t reasonably notified of the agreement’s terms, the opinion by Judge Juan R. Torruella said.

The plaintiffs filed a putative class action against Uber, claiming it violated Massachusetts law when it charged them for tolls on their trips. The district court ruled the dispute had to be arbitrated.

The arbitration clause on Uber’s app was part of a 10-page document customers were directed to via ...