T-Mobile Files Concurrent Motions to Dismiss and Compel Terms of Use Suit

T-Mobile seeks the dismissal of the class action in which five plaintiffs challenge the lawfulness of T-Mobile’s terms of use and their prohibitions against expressing negative comments online about the company or its goods and services (see 2401260042), said its motion Friday (docket 2:24-cv-00700) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. T-Mobile concurrently filed a motion to compel the pro se plaintiffs’ claims to arbitration. T-Mobile filed both motions at the same time because, while the plaintiffs’ arbitration agreements should be enforced, the plaintiffs’ claims “are so fundamentally flawed that they cannot survive regardless of the venue,” said the motion. “For the sake of expedience and efficiency,” the defendant sets forth all the reasons that the plaintiffs “fail to state a single viable claim for relief against T-Mobile,” it said. Whether the court grants the motion to dismiss or the motion to compel, “the result would be the same -- an end to this lawsuit in its entirety,” it said. The complaint alleges that because of the current power of the internet and social media platforms to publicize a company’s offerings of goods or services, T-Mobile has “a significant incentive to minimize” the negative publicity it receives, including in the form of negative online reviews and comments. While conducting substantial business with California consumers, alleges the complaint, the terms that T-Mobile imposes on its customers “clearly violate” Section 1670.8 of the California Civil Code.