In contrast to the California law ruling referenced above, a recent decision by the federal district court in Minnesota underscores the bulk of the judiciary’s strong preference for enforcing arbitration agreements according to their terms. In Green v. SuperShuttle Int’l, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95235 (D. Minn. Sept. 13, 2010), the court granted a defendant franchisor’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff franchisees’ claims and to compel arbitration based on the plain language of the arbitration agreement in the parties’ franchise agreements. The franchise agreements provided that American Arbitration Association rules applied, and the AAA rules expressly state that the arbitrator has the power to rule on his or her jurisdiction, so the court would not consider the plaintiffs’ arguments that their claims fell outside the scope of the arbitration agreement. The court also held that the agreements’ class action waiver was enforceable.
The Franchise Memorandum