Extra pepperoni, hold the constitutional rights
A New Jersey couple suffered serious injuries in 2022 when their Uber driver ran a red light and hit another car. Naturally, they sued the ridesharing company. But a state appellate court ruled that they can’t sue Uber because their minor daughter ordered a pizza on Uber Eats. As she was clicking boxes for extra pepperoni, she also clicked a box, waiving her right to a jury trial and agreeing to take any future dispute to arbitration. In doing so, she waived her mom’s rights too. The court agreed with Uber that the daughter’s pizza order – made while the family packed for a ski trip – covered all legal claims.
We’ll pack, you order food and give up our trial rights
This decision leaves a bad taste in my mouth and not just because I hate pepperoni. The Seventh Amendment in the U.S. Constitution guarantees each of us the right to a trial by jury. The idea that a minor, ordering a pizza, amid a family scramble to get packed for a vacation, fully grasps the ramifications of checking the “I agree” box? Come on. It’s more absurd than asking for anchovies and pineapple on a pie.
Fine print, monstrous consequences
Uber successfully argued that the mother had previously clicked through the fine print and agreed to waive a jury trial. It also argued that Mom frequently let her daughter order food, inferring that the daughter knew she was acting on her mom’s behalf. The courts often hold parents responsible for the conduct of their minor children. What makes this case stink is that because Uber buried something critical in a sea of fine print, the court found that the daughter not only frittered away her right to a jury trial but that of her parents. I can promise you that nowhere in this scenario did this family contemplate the pillars of democracy and the protections enshrined for them in the Constitution when they ordered their pizza.
Consumers on thin ice with thin crust?
If businesses are going to require that consumers waive their right to trial by jury before engaging their services, they should have to state that clearly and boldly. Consumers should not need a decoder ring to navigate a giant swath of legal jargon to grasp what constitutional rights they’re giving up when they contemplate thin crust or hand tossed.
Steven E. Young is a veteran commercial litigation attorney, focusing on intellectual property, entertainment transactional matters, real estate and general business litigation, in State and Federal Courts, State and Federal Appellate Courts, as well as arbitration. And yes, he will now be DRIVING to pick up his own pizza, not having it delivered.
