Teta v. Go New York Tours, Inc.
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:24-cv-01614
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 10
In Teta v. Go New York Tours, Judge Ramos granted Go New York Tours’ motion to compel individual arbitration of plaintiffs’ ticket-fee claims.
Cindy Teta and Motty Stein, as well as the proposed class of purchasers covered by their claims, must pursue the ticket-fee dispute through individual arbitration rather than the proposed class action, subject to the court’s direction about a possible stay.
What happened
In Teta v. Go New York Tours, Inc., Cindy Teta and Motty Stein claimed that Go New York Tours violated New York law by showing cruise-ticket prices without required fees until later in the online purchase process. They brought the case for themselves and a proposed class of ticket purchasers.
Go New York Tours asked the court to require arbitration under the website’s terms and to dismiss the case. The company’s website required purchasers to click a box agreeing to linked terms, which disclosed a mandatory arbitration provision and barred class proceedings. Teta and Stein argued that the arbitration agreement did not cover their ticket-buying claims.
Judge Edgardo Ramos granted the motion to compel arbitration, finding that the plaintiffs had reasonable notice of and agreed to the website terms, and that their fee claims fell within the arbitration agreement. The court did not immediately dismiss the case; it directed either party to request a stay by July 15, 2024, if desired, and otherwise said the case would be closed.
The detailed version
- Teta v. Go New York Tours, Inc. · No. 1:24-cv-01614
- Edgardo Ramos
- July 1, 2024
Background
Cindy Teta and Motty Stein sued Go New York Tours, Inc., doing business as Topview Sightseeing and Event Cruises NYC – City Lights Cruise. They alleged that the company violated New York Arts & Cultural Affairs Law § 25.07 by displaying cruise-ticket prices that excluded fees and revealing additional fees only after customers selected ticket options and proceeded through multiple website pages. They brought the action individually and on behalf of a proposed class consisting of purchasers of City Lights Cruise tickets from the company’s website.
Go New York Tours moved under the Federal Arbitration Act to compel arbitration and dismiss the action. When customers purchased tickets, the website required them to click a box next to text stating that they had read and agreed to the website’s terms and conditions. The terms disclosed in their first paragraph that they contained a mandatory arbitration provision. They also required disputes related to the terms or the company’s services to be resolved through individual arbitration and prohibited class arbitration, class actions, and other representative proceedings.
Court’s analysis
The court considered whether the parties agreed to arbitrate and whether the plaintiffs’ claims fell within the arbitration agreement. It did not need to address whether any federal statutory claim was nonarbitrable because the plaintiffs asserted a state-law claim.
The court found that the website used a clickwrap agreement—a web agreement in which a user must affirmatively click a box acknowledging agreement to terms before completing a transaction. Under state contract principles, the court concluded that the plaintiffs had agreed to the terms. The required click, the hyperlink to the terms, and the first paragraph’s notice of mandatory arbitration gave them a sufficient opportunity to read the agreement and reasonable notice of its arbitration provision. The court also found no genuine factual dispute about whether agreement occurred because the plaintiffs did not dispute that clicking the box was required to complete the purchases.
The court then interpreted the arbitration provision’s coverage. The provision applied to disputes arising from or related to the terms and conditions or services offered by Topview. The court determined that selling tickets through the website was one of Go New York Tours’ services. It therefore held that the plaintiffs’ claims concerning ticket fees fell within the arbitration agreement, even though the plaintiffs argued that the alleged fee-disclosure violation occurred before they agreed to the terms.
Ruling and effect
Judge Edgardo Ramos granted Go New York Tours’ motion to compel arbitration. The order did not itself state that the action was dismissed. Because neither party had requested a stay, the court gave either party until July 15, 2024, to inform the court if the action should be stayed while arbitration proceeded. Otherwise, the court said the case would be closed. The clerk was directed to terminate the motion.
Read the full 10-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.