Lissette Gordon v. Barclays Bank Delaware

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted Barclays Bank Delaware’s motion to compel arbitration of Lissette Gordon’s Fair Credit Reporting Act claims. The court rejected Gordon’s arguments that Barclays was judicially estopped from enforcing the arbitration agreement or had waived arbitration by previously litigating a related state-court collection action. The court ordered the parties to arbitrate, required joint status reports every ninety days, and stayed and closed the case pending arbitration.

Holdings

1. Judicial estoppel did not bar Barclays from enforcing the arbitration agreement because the agreement permitted either party to pursue a claim in an equivalent state court or elect arbitration, and Barclays's positions in the two actions were not clearly inconsistent.
2. Barclays did not waive its right to arbitrate by pursuing the prior state-court action and opposing arbitration there.
3. The parties were required to submit Gordon's claims to arbitration, and the federal proceedings had to be stayed pending completion of arbitration.

Questions Presented

1. Whether judicial estoppel barred Barclays from enforcing the arbitration agreement because Barclays previously opposed arbitration in its state-court collection action against Gordon.
2. Whether Barclays waived its right to arbitrate by filing the prior state-court action and opposing Gordon's motion to compel arbitration there.
3. Whether Gordon's FCRA claims were subject to a valid and enforceable arbitration agreement and whether the federal proceedings had to be stayed pending arbitration.

Disposition

other