Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon quietly dropped its mandatory arbitration clause from its Conditions of Use. In fact, the Conditions of Use were updated May 3, 2021. The provision marked “DISPUTES” now states:
Any dispute or claim relating in any way to your use of any Amazon Service will be adjudicated in the state or Federal courts in King County, Washington, and you consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in these courts. We each waive any right to a jury trial.
So what caused this change of mega-corporate heart? The WSJ article says that Amazon made the change after plaintiffs’ lawyers “flooded” the company with “more than 75,000 individual arbitration demands” on behalf of Echo users that were suing over privacy claims.
This is just the latest example of how law firms with the resources to do so are leveraging the tools of efficiency to level the playing field made even more lopsided by wrap contracts. This mass-arbitration filing tactic was first discussed on this blog with respect to Door Dash. The big question is, will other companies follow Amazon’s lead?
