In American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant, American Express (Amex) entered into agreements with Italian Colors Restaurant
and other merchants that accept American Express credit cards. The agreement required that all disputes be settled through arbitration and prohibited class actions. The merchants filed a class action antitrust claim against Amex, arguing that they should be allowed to bring the claim as a class because the cost of expert analysis to prove the case exceeded the maximum recovery available to an individual merchant plaintiff. How did the U.S. Supreme Court decide?
The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) does not permit courts to invalidate a contractual waiver of legal rights based solely on the grounds that a plaintiff's dispute resolution costs exceed any potential amounts to be recovered.
