Lower Court Erred in Ruling Fraud Claims vs. Amazon Were Time-Barred: Plaintiff

The U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle erred when it dismissed plaintiff-appellant Tracy McCarthy’s fraud claims against Amazon and Audible as time-barred, said McCarthy’s mediation questionnaire Monday (docket 23-35605) at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. McCarthy alleges Amazon engaged in deceptive business practices when it provided “credits” as a “benefit” of being a Prime member, said the questionnaire. When Prime members redeemed those credits for the audio versions of books they wanted to buy on Amazon, they were unknowingly enrolled in Audible for a continuous monthly fee “without any clear and conspicuous notice of such enrollment,” it said. In seeking to reverse the district court’s ruling that her claims under New York’s General Business Law were time-barred, McCarthy argues she was improperly charged a monthly fee for Audible within the three-year statute of limitations for GBL claims, said her questionnaire. For the monthly charges that occurred beyond the three-year statute of limitations, it said, McCarthy properly alleged tolling under New York’s “continuing violations doctrine” and by alleging defendants Amazon and Audible “fraudulently concealed the facts giving rise to her claims,” it said. McCarthy also asserts the district court erred by concluding that she failed to allege “a misleading statement of practice,” said the questionnaire. McCarthy presented the court with “particularized factual allegations,” including specifically “what was misleading,” plus the “causal connection between the misleading statements and her purported injury,” it said.