Judge OKs Sony's Motion to File Reply in Support of Motion to Compel Arbitration

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle for Northern Florida in Tallahassee granted Sony’s unopposed motion for leave to file a reply memorandum in support of its motion to compel arbitration in a fraud lawsuit over an allegedly defective camera shutter, said his signed order Wednesday (docket 4:23-cv-00177). The reply memorandum, due by Sept. 1, may address any subject and must explicitly state whether there's evidence that, at or near the time of plaintiff Hannah Lewis’ buy of her Alpha 7 III camera, she received a hard copy of a document with the alleged arbitration agreement or accessed a website with the alleged arbitration agreement, Hinkle said. Lewis alleges Sony denied coverage to customers who experienced shutter failure on the camera for claims submitted outside the limited one-year warranty period. In its motion to compel arbitration (see 2308080034), Sony cited its printed one-year limited warranty containing an arbitration agreement and class-action waiver “requiring arbitration on an individual basis for any disputes ‘related to the product.’”