Court Declines to Compel Arbitration Based on Third-Party Agreement

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently refused to compel arbitration in a putative class action based on an arbitration clause a plaintiff agreed to on a third party's website he used to book a rental car from the defendant.

Ancizar Marin used Orbitz to book a rental car from rental car company Sixt. During that process, he agreed to Orbitz's terms of use. Those terms included an arbitration clause that provided: "You and Orbitz agree that any and all Claims will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court." Marin subsequently picked up and returned his rental car from Sixt. After he returned his car, he received an email claiming that the car had been damaged. Marin filed a putative class action against Sixt claiming violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and Consumer Collection Practices Act. Sixt sought to compel arbitration.

The district court denied Sixt's motion.

The court explained that Sixt was not a party to the arbitration clause between Orbitz and Marin. The clause said: "You and Orbitz agree ..." Nor was Sixt a third-party beneficiary to that agreement. Although Sixt argued that it was a "supplier" under Orbitz's terms of use and that this rendered it a beneficiary, the court concluded that Sixt was included in a different category of companies that worked with Orbitz (travel services), and that category was not mentioned in the arbitration clause. Therefore, Sixt could not invoke the arbitration clause.

Even if Sixt could invoke the arbitration clause, the clause did not cover the dispute between Marin and Sixt. Rather, it "cover[ed] disputes between Orbitz's customers and Orbitz." Marin's dispute concerned alleged misconduct by Sixt unrelated to Orbitz.

Calderon v. Sixt Rent A Car, LLC, No. 0:19-cv-62408 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 12, 2020).