Nugent
Nugent v. Secretlab US, Inc.
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SEAN NUGENT, Case No. 22-cv-08944-VC
Plaintiff,
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO
v. DISMISS
SECRETLAB US, INC., Re: Dkt. No. 14 Defendant.
This order assumes the reader is familiar with the case. The Secretlab website’s terms of use provide that “the courts of Singapore will have exclusive jurisdiction.” Dkt. No. 14-4 § 15. The terms also state, in capital letters: “By using this site, you agree to these terms of use; if you don’t agree, don’t use the site.” Id. at 2. On this basis, Secretlab seeks to have the case dismissed so that it can be litigated in Singapore. The key question is whether the website’s terms bind Nugent, as a valid forum selection clause would all but require dismissal. Under California law, website terms only bind a user with actual or inquiry notice. See Berman v. Freedom Financial Network, LLC, 30 F.4th 849, 856 (9th Cir. 2022). There is no allegation of actual notice here. Inquiry notice requires that “(1) the website provides reasonably conspicuous notice of the terms to which the consumer will be bound; and (2) the consumer takes some…