Cleveland, July 19, 2016: Republican National Convention – Conservative figure Alex Jones uses a megaphone to voice his opinion as he increases the level of tension between protestersInfoWars, PayPal Spat Set to Go Down in Arbitration
Marc Randazza, repping InfoWars' parent company in a discrimination suit against PayPal, has moved to dismiss the case without prejudice, citing an arbitration clause in PayPal's user agreement.
November 05, 2018 at 07:41 PM
3 minute read
One month after filing a discrimination suit against PayPal on behalf of the publisher behind the controversial InfoWars website, plaintiffs attorney Marc Randazza has moved to dismiss the suit without prejudice, looking to send the dispute to arbitration.
Free Speech Systems LLC, the publisher behind the right-wing political commentary site founded by radio personality Alex Jones, filed suit against PayPal on Oct. 1, alleging the online payment company violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act for “arbitrarily banning” the company from its services “for off-platform speech.” On Monday, FSS's attorney Randazza moved to dismiss all claims of his own lawsuit, aiming to route proceedings to arbitration on grounds of an arbitration clause in PayPal's user agreement.
“Rather than burden the parties and the court with motion practice regarding the enforceability of the arbitration provision, FSS plans to proceed with its dispute under the terms of the user agreement,” Randazza wrote in his motion. Randazza earlier cited the arbitration agreement in a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent PayPal from terminating FSS's accounts on its site “until an arbitrator rules on whether to issue such injunctive relief.”
In her denial of the TRO, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California wrote that Randazza's acknowledgment that “any potential relief granted by the court” would only last until an arbitrator weighed in brought into question whether the dispute “is even properly before the court.”
Representing PayPal in the lawsuit were Keker, Van Nest & Peters partners Matthew Werdegar and Khari Tillery and Ballard Spahr's David Bodney, Mark Kokanovich and Scott Humphreys.
Werdegar, Bodney and Randazza didn't respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit began after PayPal told FSS in September that it would cease processing transactions to the site via its online payment platform, writing in an email that the right-wing website violated terms of its user policy by promoting “hate and discriminatory intolerance against certain communities and religions.”
In the October lawsuit, Randazza said that PayPal's actions constituted unfair business practices “by enforcing its contractual terms in an unconscionable manner.”
“Defendant PayPal is the most recent company to join this campaign of censorship. It banned plaintiff from its payment-processing platform for no reason other than disagreement with the messages plaintiff conveys,” Randazza wrote in the complaint.
Read the motion to dismiss below:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Dog Gone It, Target: Provider of Retailer's Mascot Dog Sues Over Contract Cancellation
4 minute read
Read the Document: 'Google Must Divest Chrome,' DOJ Says, Proposing Remedies in Search Monopoly Case
3 minute read
OpenAI, NYTimes Counsel Quarrel Over Erased OpenAI Training Data
Meta Seeks Declaratory Judgment in VR Eyewear Tech Patent Infringement Case
Trending Stories
- 1UN Treaty Enacting Cybercrime Standards Likely to Face Headwinds in US, Other Countries
- 2Clark Hill Acquires L&E Boutique in Mexico City, Adding 5 Lawyers
- 36th Circuit Judges Spar Over Constitutionality of Ohio’s Ballot Initiative Procedures
- 4On The Move: Polsinelli Adds Health Care Litigator in Nashville, Ex-SEC Enforcer Joins BCLP in Atlanta
- 5After Mysterious Parting With Last GC, Photronics Fills Vacancy
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
