Laster v. AT & T MOBILITY LLC

BEA, Circuit Judge:

This case involves a class action claim that a telephone company’s offer of a “free” phone to anyone who signs up for its service is fraudulent to the extent the phone company charges the new subscriber sales tax on the retail value of each “free” phone.

The phone company demanded the plaintiffs’ claims be submitted to individual arbitration, pointing to the arbitration clause of the written agreement, which arbitration clause requires arbitration, but bars class actions. Because this is an action invoking diversity of citizenship jurisdiction, the plaintiff-subscribers…