Ninth Circuit Allows TOS Amendment by Email–Ireland-Gordy v. Tile
11 hours ago
- #Ninth Circuit
- #Arbitration Clause
- #TOS Amendment
- Plaintiffs sued Tile for misuse of tracking devices, invoking arbitration clauses in Tile's TOS.
- Tile amended its TOS in October 2023 via email notification, which plaintiffs claimed they did not see or saw late.
- The Ninth Circuit ruled that the email provided 'inquiry notice' of the TOS amendment, binding plaintiffs to arbitration.
- Court applied a novel multi-factor test for inquiry notice, weighing transaction context and reasonable disclosures against lack of other notices.
- Criticism includes lack of distinction between TOS formation and amendment, ignoring TOS amendment procedures, and empirical questions about email notice effectiveness.