Comcast Argues for Reversal of Lower Court Arbitration Decision

The arbitration agreement in Comcast's subscriber agreement with former subscriber Richard Wuest clearly delegates disputes about the scope to an arbitrator, and a lower court was wrong to conclude the agreement didn't encompass Wuest's claims against Comcast, the company said in a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals brief (in Pacer) Tuesday. The docket 17-17093 brief comes as Comcast appeals the lower court's denial of its motion to compel individual arbitration after Wuest sued under the California Invasion of Privacy Act over the company's recording his inbound call to a company customer sales representative. The cable operator said its postcard to Wuest to try to convince him to renew his subscription, and Wuest's call to Comcast, clearly arises out of their relationship and thus has to be arbitrated pursuant to the parties' agreement. His counsel didn't comment Wednesday.