T-Mobile Motion Seeks to Compel L.A. Plaintiff’s Fraud Claims to Arbitration

T-Mobile seeks an order compelling arbitration of Esperanza Rendon’s fraud claims against the carrier and to stay the case pending the completion of that arbitration, said its memorandum of law Tuesday (docket 2:24-cv-01666) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles in support of its motion to compel. The motion should be granted because Rendon “is contractually required to arbitrate, rather than litigate, all of her claims against T-Mobile,” said the memorandum. Rendon, a longtime T-Mobile customer, is suing the carrier to challenge the “regulatory programs & telco recovery fee” on its monthly invoices (see 2403010023). She also claims that when she purchased additional phones from T-Mobile, she was charged for “add-on” device protection plans without her knowledge or consent. But Rendon “disregards the fact that since she activated her service,” she has repeatedly agreed to T-Mobile’s “industry-standard” terms and conditions, “which require individual arbitration of disputes,” said the memorandum. To the extent that Rendon “challenges the scope or enforceability of the arbitration provision she agreed to,” the parties also agreed that the arbitrator, not the court, would decide those disputes, it said. Even if the court were to consider those delegated issues, Rendon’s arguments “fail on the merits,” it said: “In sum, Ms. Rendon should be compelled to honor her agreements to arbitrate her dispute with T-Mobile.”