Jessica Kramer v. Toyota Motor Corporation

Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (collectively “Toyota” or “Defendants”) seek review of the district court’s denial of their motion to compel arbitration. The district court held that Toyota, a nonsignatory to several agreements with arbitration provisions between Plaintiffs and various Toyota dealerships (hereinafter “Dealerships”), could not compel Plaintiffs to arbitrate with Toyota. The district court also found that Toyota had waived any right to compel arbitration by vigorously litigating this action in district court for nearly two years.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 16 (a)(1)(C), which provides for immediate interlocutory appeal of a district court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration. Green Tree Fin. Corp.-Alabama v. Randolph, 531 U.S. 79, 86 , 121 S.Ct. 513 , 148 L.Ed.2d 373 (2000). For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the district court’s order denying Toyota’s motion to compel arbitration.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs are owners of Model Year 2010 Toyota Prius vehicles who purchased their new vehicles between June 2009 and February 2010 from Toyota dealerships in California, Texas, and Maryland. Plaintiffs…