Originally from Journal of American Arbitration (JAA)

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I. OVERVIEW

After receiving unauthorized charges on her credit card statement, cardholder Louise Spann filed a class action lawsuit against her credit card provider, American Express Company (“AmEx”).  Spann v. Am. Express Travel Related Servs. Co., No. M2004-02786, 2006 WL 2516431, at *4 (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 30, 2006).  Spann claimed that AmEx’s marketing and selling strategies violated various consumer protection statutes and that its actions resulted in intentional and negligent representation, conversion, and unjust enrichment.  Id.  Vetahmary Higgins, who also received unauthorized charges on her statement, was added as a plaintiff to the lawsuit. Id.  AmEx filed a motion to compel separate arbitrations for each of the plaintiffs’ claims pursuant to a 2003 cardholder agreement amendment containing an arbitration provision and a class arbitration waiver.  While both Spann and Higgins acknowledged that their claims against AmEx were subject to arbitration, they argued that the class arbitration waiver clause was unconscionable. Id.