Off To Arbitration: Federal Court Stays Class Action In Support Of Arbitration

Why this decision matters

In Difederico v Amazon.com, the Federal Court of Canada upheld the competence-competence principle, reinforced the binding nature of contracts of adhesion, and confirmed that an arbitration clause cannot be deemed unconscionable by the circumstances under which an individual seeks to bring a claim, but rather the clause must be unconscionable on its face. Additionally, the Court reinforced the high bar for a finding that an arbitration clause is unconscionable.

Overview of the proceedings

On April 1, 2020, Stephanie Difederico filed a proposed class action against Amazon and its subsidiaries, alleging that their competitive pricing provision (effective year 2010 to March 2019) and subsequent fair pricing policy constituted criminal price fixing contrary to section 45 of the Competition Act, RSC 1985, c C-34. The representative Plaintiff, Ms. Difederico, created her Amazon.ca account in 2016 and, by June 23, 2021, had placed over 285