Someone Else's Decision

Aanderud v. Superior Court, No. F073277 (D5 Jul. 27, 2017).

Trial court here granted a motion to compel arbitration where the agreement contained a class action waiver. In the process of doing so, the court found that that agreement was not unconscionable, the class action waiver valid, and the claims arbitrable. 

Problem is, the agreement contained a clause that specifically and expressly delegated all questions of validity or arbitrability to the arbitrator. Those are generally enforceable. So the trial court shouldn’t have predetermined those issues is granting the motion to compel. And while a granted motion to compel arbitration isn’t generally an appealable order, the court exercises its discretion to treat the appeal as a writ petition and issues a writ directing the trial court to vacate its order.

Writ granted.